The Gladiator Pit
by NovaShifter15
Summary: Cole and Jay are best friends in highschool. They live in the most boring town in America. At least that's what they thought. Everything changes when one day Cole goes missing. Kai, Zane, Nya and Lloyd live in the Underworld where they must fight as gladiators. They don't realize they are slaves under a sadistic tyrant. Then everything changes when they meet a stranger named Cole.
1. Cole Brookstone

**Hi, Nova here. So i took a really long hiatus. I know i suck. Anyways just kinda took a break to improve my writing, tried a few novels. Well long story short found myself get this random ninjago fanfic idea and kind just needed to write something again. **

Cole Brookstone was many things. For starters, his father had always wanted him to be a dancer, so despite his hatred for dancing and the humiliation he felt each time he set foot onto a dance floor, he was an excellent dancer. On top of that, his teachers wanted to be an astute student. This wasn't such a hard request seeing as Cole didn't find school to be too much of a challenge. He'd made it all the way through, in fact his senior year began a month ago. Cole also had a quartet whom his father expected to be his best friends. Realistically, Cole wouldn't hang out with people such as them.

Their tener voice Milo, was extremely short and talked a mile a minute. His favorite thing to do was jump rope, the kid could do double dutch, crossroads, singles, doubles and every trick in the book that had to do with a jump rope. Cole never admitted than jump didn't exactly spike his interest all the time.

Their lead Austin, well Cole couldn't stand Austin. Austin never let anyone else have their way and he enjoyed picking on smaller students. Whenever Cole had to hang out with him, he usually ended up standing behind Austin while their lead singer embarrassed freshman and sophomores.

Their bass singer's name was Don. Don was the quietest and slowest person Cole had ever met. He reminded Cole a bit of a sloth. It was like an old man was trapped in the body of a broad shouldered teenager. Cole remembered the time he'd tried to make a joke around Don, only to be met with a long forlorn stare. Cole pretended to have to go to the bathroom after that.

Cole himself was the baritone, which was the octave just above the bass, which was last.

Cole had to hang out with these people every day, and coincidentally he wanted to die every day as well. If the boys weren't practicing, they were arguing. Austin constantly picked on Milo and Milo constantly complained about his ideas never getting picked and Don would sit there and look sad like he always did, occasionally saying something like , 'why don't we go eat something.' Generally Austin and Milo would turn to Cole for tie breakers. This was Cole's least favorite part of the day.

For one, Austin knew how to run the quartet and put on amazing shows, but it was also fair that Milo get to have a say once in a while. It wasn't like his ideas were terrible either. The particular argument today was what the costumes should be.

"Cole, what do you think? Green or black." Austin demanded, throwing him a pointed look to agree with him.

"Why don't we try both?" Cole pointed out. "We could do black dress shirts and green coats." He suggested.

"No, my colors more important, it should be green dress shirts with black overcoats." Austin corrected him.

"Sounds fine." Cole said with a shrug. "Milo?" He asked looking at his smaller "friend."

"Yeah okay." Milo agreed. Milo generally didn't like causing problems, but he had a very competitive personality.

"Great, and look we're out of time." Cole chirped. "Um, shame." He added, trying to sound disappointed.

"Alright see you losers tomorrow then." Austin said, grabbed his backpack and leaving the small practice room in a huff.

"Alrighty see ya Cole, remember the key change I added in. I'm thinking if we just add it without asking, Austin may not notice. Milo told him rapidly.

"Oh I'm sure it'll slip right by him." Cole said trying to keep the sarcasm out of his voice as Milo left.

"You got a ride home Don?" Cole asked his final friend. Don blinked, the turned to look up at Cole.

"Yup." He answered quietly and slowly.

"Well, see you then." Cole said, shouldering his backpack and exiting the room before Don could start a new dull sentence.

Once Cole was out of the building, he grinned. No parents no teachers no "friends", just him, no expectations.

"Freedom." Cole sighed to himself.

"Oh my, is your school a secret prison in disguise." A voice said. Jay.

"Jay!" Cole exclaimed turning and giving his friend a hug. "You're back!" Cole shouted happily.

"That I am." Jay agreed hugging his friend back. Jay was the only friend of Cole's that Cole actually liked. He was also the only one of Cole's friends that his father didn't particularly like. Jay wasn't a singer or a dancer.

Jay was an amateur inventor, he was one of the smartest people Cole had ever met. Jay went to a prestigious choice highschool and recently they had taken Jay's senior class on a field trip to Borg Industries. The headquarters of invention. Cole had helped his friend pack for the trip.

"Okay, I want to hear every single thing." Coles said, as the two of them began their walk home.

"Alright alright, so we get there" Jay began, and Cole's face fell into an easy smile. He hadn't heard Jay's voice in a week though it felt like ages more than that, and his friend was the not only the smartest person he knew, but also the most interesting person ever. He told stories like they were legends, and his humor was a good mix between cheesy and sarcastic. He was the only one of Cole's friends that Cole enjoyed talking to.

Jay was also great because Cole didn't have to resolve Jay's arguments, he didn't have to agree with everything Jay said, he didn't have to listen to everything Jay said. Jay let Cole just be Cole, and right now there was nothing more perfect to him than that.

Cole would always bend for other people, mostly because he wanted his father to love and support him. His father had always been pleased with everything Cole did, but Cole feared that it would be a very different story had he not listened to everything his father told him to do, despite how much he wanted to do other things. Cole couldn't be happy if his father didn't support the path he chose.

For instance, Cole had always wanted to try out for football, he had the build and the reflexes for it, and he loved sports having his own personal competitive streak, but before he could ask his father if he could try out his father had come home one day and said,

"Oh Coleman, I'm so glad you don't play sports with the rest of those stupid ruffians."

And Cole never asked his father to play. Jay tapped Cole's shoulder, dragging him from his thoughts.

"So like is that the coolest thing or what. Anyways so I step on this perfect match console and guess what." Jay paused excitedly.

"What the machine told you you're too cheesy to ever get a girlfriend." Cole joked, suddenly re-entering the conversation.

"Ha ha Cole, very funny." Jay retorted.

"Okay sorry, so spill. Did it show you your soulmate? "Cole asked grinning.

"Did it?" Jay asked rhetorically with a dreamy look on his face. "So this girl pops up, and I'm telling I have never seen someone more beautiful than her. I mean she was perfect." Jay said melting.

"But you don't know anything about this girl." Cole reminded him. Jay gave him that look like 'are you for real?'

" Perfect Match." Jay said slowly. "What part of perfect match did you not get?!" Jay said voice getting louder. Cole laughed.

"Yeah alright I hear you. Well let me know if you ever meet this soul mate of yours." Cole told him.

"One day, when you're in love, your tone won't be so sarcastic." Jay said in a haughty tone. Cole just grinned like crazy. He'd really missed Jay.

"Race you to the park?" Jay asked after a minute of quiet.

"You're on." Cole said, and the two of them took on down the road.

"First!" Jay yelled out of breath slamming his hand on the plastic slide.

"You got me." Cole agreed smiling, then when Jay wasn't looking he reached over and scooped his friend off the ground and held him proudly above his head.

"All hail the winner." Cole chanted parading around the empty park.

"Cole!" Jay complained squirming, he managed to wriggle down from Cole's hands. Cole laughed and Jay rolled his eyes at his friend. Cole reached down and helped his friend off the ground. They began walking back to the edge of the playground where they had discarded their backpacks.

Suddenly, as they were walking, Jay yelped loudly and fell to the ground. Cole turned surprised.

"Woah, had a little much to drink at Borg Industries did we?" Cole asked, holding out a hand.

"That was weird I think I tripped over something." Jay said taking Cole's hand and standing up. He looked back. "But there's nothing the- . . .wait." Jay stopped and moved closer to where he had fallen,

"Oh look at this." Jay said softly pointing to a small crack in the ground.

"A crack in the sidewalk, wooow." Cole said slowly. Cole spoke to soon. Literally, while he was speaking the crack suddenly widened. Jay peered down into it.

"There's nothing here but darkness." Jay reported.

"Shocker." Cole answered, walking towards the crack himself.

Again the crack grew a little wider. Wide enough that one might be able to stick a hand down it.

"Maybe there's going to be an earthquake." Cole realized.

"Doubtful, cracks in the ground generally happen after earthquakes." Jay told him.

"Glad to have an expert." Cole answered.

"Glad to be one." Jay said with a grin.

"So what _could_ it be then?" Cole asked.

"To be honest I really have no idea, but the deep dark ever-widening hole in the ground is kinda scaring me a little bit." Jay admitted truthfully. At his words, the crack again grew wider, possibly wide enough to fit a head down.

"Okay if that doesn't stop, I'm going to freak out." Jay muttered. Cole and Jay stopped and waited silently, but the crack had seemed to stop growing.

"Maybe it's just a weird anomaly." Cole hoped.

"Yeah maybe." Jay said.

"Are we getting out of here?" Cole asked.

"Right behind you." Jay agreed and the two of them left in a hurry.

As the two of them grabbed their things and began walking away Cole began to hear something.

He threw a glance back at the crack in the ground and he swore he heard distant cheering.

"Do you hear-" Cole began to ask, but just as soon as it had started, the cheering stopped.

"Hear?" Jay asked, looking over at his friend confused.

"Um. . . nevermind. I'm hearing things." Cole told Jay. But even so, he stared at the crack for a second longer, ears straining.

The cheering seemed so real, and it sounded like it was coming from the depths of that crevice in the ground.

**Alrighty, first chapter done y'all. It's gonna be a bit slow going for the first two chapters maybe but then it's really gonna pick up. Um for ships and things like that, i'll probably end up doing some, but also it will be up to the readers on which pairings you guys want to see, i figure since it's not the main point of the story, you guys can suggest some things and i can have a bit of fun. (Though i was planning do to Jaya) so save those characters for me. Anyways please reveiw because it means the world and i love to see what you guys are thinking. I swear the ext few AN's will not be this dragged out. (BTW, should i put this on wattpad) R&R**

**Keep Writing Keep Reading, Nova out ; )**


	2. The Descent

**Okay so here we go again, the first few chapters will probably be out pretty fast just cuz I kinda want to get it going you know? Anyways, onward to chapter two ; ) Btw Fanfiction kinda deletes words sometimes so I'm gonna edit the last chapter and fix some technical errors.**

The next day, Cole woke up early for dance practice. He always spent two hours before school practicing with his class. Next year he would finally graduate dance school which he was more eager to finish than highschool, simply because of how much he hated it.

Quickly he scarfed down breakfast, changed into his dance uniform which was a white dress shirt and black pants, and grabbed his backpack on his way out the door.

"Heya!" Jay called from the sidewalk. Jay was the greatest friend ever because he woke up early just to walk Cole to dance.

"Hi Jay. "Cole said tiredly. "How are you not tired every day?" Cole asked yawning.

"I had three cups of coffee." Jay replied. Cole looked over to see his friend squirming uncomfortably.

"Wanna use the bathroom?" Cole asked.

"Yes!" Jay burst out and ran into Cole's house. Cole chuckled to himself and set down on his porch steps. He tried to think about his day, and prepare himself mentally for dance. However Cole found himself thinking of something else instead.

His mind wandered to the crack in the ground. His ears remembered the cheering that he had heard, and the way he wanted to climb down it with a flashlight, just to see what was down there. Cole always longed for something interest to come along. He loved action, and adventure. Well okay, he was a bit of an adrenaline junkie.

He never told his father. His father would never understand. He would say Cole was careless and putting himself in harm's way.

Jay walked back out, snapping Cole from his fantasy of exploring the crack in the park.

"Doing okay?" Jay asked, seeing Cole's longing face.

"Just. . . wishing I didn't have to go to dance." Cole lied. Jay would probably be too afraid to return to the park and would warn Cole against it. Cole didn't want to worry him by telling him he was going to return.

Wait.

He was going to return?

Now that Cole thought about, he realized nothing was going to stop him from going back. He was too interested. In a small town where nothing happens, well Cole was desperate for anything to happen. Even if it was likely that the crack just ended and he hit dirt about a foot down.

Jay and Cole began walking to Cole's dance school, which was a smallish studio a block down from Jay's choice school. Jay told him more about his trip as they walked, still obsessed about the perfect match console he had tried. He was fantasizing places he might meet her.

"Oh oh maybe she goes to your school." Jay complained suddenly. "Ah no fair." He whined.

"Maybe she doesn't even live here at all, maybe you're going to meet her in some crazy trip around the world." Cole said trying to cheer Jay up. He did brighten at this.

"Hey, yeah." Jay realized nodding excitedly. "That'd be awesome." He agreed grinning.

"We're here." Cole said dully. This was his least favorite part of the day. The moment he entered this building, and he wasn't with Jay anymore, he had to be a different person until the end of the day when Jay met him after school.

"Skip." Jay suggested, just like he did every day.

"I wish. I'll see you a bit later man." Cole said, hugging his friend goodbye.

"Don't die on me." Jay demanded.

"Never." Cole promised, and though there were hardly any ways he could possibly _die_, he always meant it. So with a final wave, that seemed all too final, he entered his dance recital.

Cole had survived yet another day of school. Now he was just surviving the last few minutes of quartet practice.

"So we've got a gig on Thursday okay, they want us for two hours." Austin read of the schedule sheet.

"Two hours!" Milo complained. "My voice will one hundred percent be completely totaled by the time one hour is up how do you expect us to last two whole hours I mean that's longer than you think, i'm serious how will i last?." He rambled.

"Water." Don mumbled quietly, as an answer to Milo. Cole sat there saying nothing.

"Hey mute, you can make it right." Austin demanded, turning to Cole.

"Sure yeah, Thursdays fine." Cole agreed.

"Great that gives us tomorrow to practice." Austin pointed out. "Don't be late." He growled, then grabbed his backpack and stalked out of the practice room. Milo shrugged on hopped off his seat on the piano, also leaving the room.

"I'll see you tomorrow Don." Cole said with a wave, then also left the room. He made his way out of the building where Jay was supposed to be waiting, but then before walking outside he paused.

If he walked home with Jay, he would have to go straight home, where his father might be. Jay wouldn't want to go back to the park. He decided to shoot his friend a text real quick.

_Hey wanna go 2 the park again today?_

_Hell no, that creepy gap in the ground might still be there._

_ Oh, good point. Well quartet ran long so I'll be out late. Don't wait up._

_Oh. Yeah I've got to get home for like dinner or something anyways._

_ Sorry man_

_No problem, I'll see you tomorrow_

_ Yeah, tomorrow._

Cole felt guilty about lying to his friend, but like Jay say, they would see each other tomorrow. Cole sprinted to the back of the school to where there was a side entrance. He burst out the door and ran down the trails to the park.

It was only about three minutes running. When Cole got there, he spotted the crack right away. He dropped his backpack on the ground next to it. It had gotten bigger since he'd been there yesterday, big enough to maybe fit a person. Cole glanced around the park, but like always it was abandoned. Everyone went to the new park down the street. This was old and falling apart.

Cole laid on the ground and peered down into the crack. It was pitch black. He grabbed his phone from his back pocket and switched on the flashlight. Again he looked down into the crack. The light lit up jagged walls and went down, down, down until the light didn't reach any further.

If only Cole had some sort of the rope. He looked up at the swing set suddenly. The old swings were built with rope instead of chain. Cole jumped up and ran over to the swing set. It the ropes were strong enough to support people swinging, they'd be strong enough to support him. He grabbed his pocketknife out of his backpack.

He knew he wasn't supposed to have it, but better safe than sorry. Bad things could happen even in a town like this. Or perhaps he kept it in hopes that something _would_ happen, because nothing ever did.

His knife gnawed at the ropes for a few minutes but pretty soon he had four decent length ropes. Quickly he lashed them together as tight as he possibly could until he had a decent length rope. He ran back to the crack in the ground and tied one end of the rope to a pole on the playground and the other end around his wrist. He gave it a few tugs then walked over to the edge of the crack.

"Not too deep." Cole promised himself. "Just take a quick look." He said, slowly began climbing down the side of one of the walls. Climbing down wasn't relatively hard, there were footholds and handholds nearly everywhere and in the rare occasion that there wasn't, he just held onto the rope.

Every now and again, Cole would stop to take out his phone flashlight and see if he could locate the end from where he was. He never could. Cole moved to put his phone away again when a low rumble made him pause. He glanced upwards for the first time. The sky was much further away that he realized. The rumble sounded again and Cole clung to the wall nervously. Then slowly, the walls began to shift apart again. Cole looked up to see his backpack teetering on the edge as the ground shrank away from it. It was going to fall in a second. Then suddenly the foot hole Cole was using slipped away from him and he fell.

Luckily, or unluckily the rope around his wrist caught him. When the rope went taught he heard a crack and he screamed as his wrist flared in pain. His left had burned then began to immediately go numb. He looked up form where he was hanging in pain. His backpack was finally falling. As if fell by him he reached out his right hand to grab it, and like he expected his backpack was extremely heavy from all his books and it jerked on his right arm, causing his left to flare up again. Biting his lip to stop from himself from yelling in pain, he looked up at his arm once more. Warm liquid was trickling down his arm. The rope was cutting into his skin, and it wasn't stopping. He had to untie his hand, or it was going to be cut off. Cole swallowed and with his right arm he managed to put on one shoulder strap of his backpack. He reached up to his left hand and began picking at the knot.

It sliced further and this time he couldn't hold back a scream, the rope rubbed into the wound, scratching and burning painfully. He tried untying the knot faster. After what seemed like ages, the first part of the knot unraveled. He looked down into the darkness below. If he untied himself, the only chance he had of living was that the end of this thing was close and he just couldn't see it. He looked back up once more at the sky. It was blue, and far away. He glanced down.

"You better end." He told the dark abyss. The reached up, and pulled out the final part of the knot. The tension left his hand and he breathed a sigh of relief.

Then Cole began to fall.

Falling is a weird sensation because it feels like your stomach is falling before anything else. It's also weird because if there isn't an end in sight, every second is full of suspense, just wondering if the ground is going to suddenly come out of nowhere and kill you instantly.

Cole felt like this very much now. His back was to wherever the ground was supposed to be and as he fell, the glimpse of sky above him began to close, like the crack in the ground never existed in the first place. Cole tried not to scream as he fell. Darkness was all he could see, and wind was all he felt.

_Jay I'm sorry_. He thought, as the earth swallowed him whole.

As darkness settled over Cole for good, he began to hear something.

As he fell he listened as distant cheering grew louder.

And louder.

** Well there you have it, chapter two. DUN dun DUN. Hope you liked it. R&R, your support means everything. I'll try to have chp.3 out tomorrow or something.**

**Keep Writing Keep Reading, Nova out ; )**


	3. Glatori Rigari

**Aaaaaaaand chapter three. On we go. Okay I know it's taking a while to get up and running and I know that I haven't really edited the first two chapters, but I promise this one will be edited and pretty, so on we go! Support is super helpful!**

Cole woke to the sound of water. Or more specifically the sound of heavy boots stomping in water. He shook his head a bit and peeled his eyes open, slowly, painfully. He couldn't see a thing. His surroundings were pitch black and freezing cold. He blinked again and again until his eyes finally began to adjust to the low light level.

Dark blobs and shapes dotted his surroundings, and the splash of water grew nearer.

"Hello?" He called meekly, while desperately trying to remember what happened. The last thing he seemed to be able to recall was texting Jay. Texting Jay what?

The boots in the water stopped. Cole looked up to see a large form towering above him.

"Where?" Cole mumbled tiredly. The figure didn't answer him. Instead it turned around and yelled something nonsensical.

_"Rosumot wocon rica aramid!"_ The figure demanded. More blurry figures came out of the shadows behind him and began grabbing Cole.

"Hey, woah!" Cole attempted to struggle. "What's going on?" He demanded tiredly. The figure leaned in close and Cole blinked at the sudden detail.

His hair was shaved off and he had black markings around his eyes, which were yellow. He was extremely ripped, and wore no shirt, bearing more black markings on his chest and neck. He grinned at Cole to reveal a missing tooth, and to top it off he had a scar straight down in the middle of his forehead.

"_Glatori Rigari_!" The stranger shouted, and the other figures cheered loudly.

"G-glatori what?" Cole repeated nervously, as the strange people began dragging him through the water by his arms.

Cole desperately tried to recall what happened. He wanted to know what the hell this place was, and why his wrist was covered in blood and ached like it had gotten into a fight with a sledgehammer.

"Okay buddy." Cole whispered to himself. "You're . . .um . . .just d-dreaming. Dreaming. Yeah." He muttered to himself. Jay echoed in his mind.

_"Oh, you're dreaming. For sure yeah. WELL THEN WHY THE HECK DOES IT FEEL TOTALLY AND COMPLETLEY REAL!" _

Cole was forced to agree with imaginary Jay. _Come on Cole, think! How did you get here?_ Cole hung his head back tiredly for a moment, and lucky he did because he noticed a tiny sliver of light, he gazed at it only for it to disappear a minute later. Cole stared at the ceiling some more, which seemed to be miles and miles away. It was remarkable Cole could even see the top. Another sliver of light appeared, it grew and grew and the ground rumbled, and then as soon as it had started, it shrunk back down into nothing.

"Right, right right right!" Cole exclaimed, and a guy kicked him.

Cole groaned in pain. "Hole in the ground." He sputtered to himself.

He had climbed into that stupid crack and fell, and now cave people had captured him. Out of all the things that had to be down here. _Cave people_ that wanted to _capture_ him.

"Hey um guys, look I'm so sorry to have disturbed you're . . . whatever, but if you let me go I swear I will never come back here again. Promise." Cole said, looking at the leader cave person. The cave person just chuckled at him, and repeated what he had said earlier.

"_Glatori Rigari!" _He chanted at Cole.

"Oh, right. You're Glory Rug I know. Well listen I don't actually have time to see your Glory Rug because I need to leave." Cole said slowly.

"Little man wants to leave." The stranger said gruffly, his tone accusatory. He glared at Cole, and Cole swallowed.

"H-hey look at that. You do talk." Cole said trying to sound cheery. "And no little man does not want to leave. Lead the way to the Glory Rug." Cole said sheepishly.

"Little man will have chance to leave. If little man survive _Glatori Rigari!" _The dude chanted the words again. Imaginary Jay spoke up.

"_Yeesh what's this guy's deal."_

"S-survive?" Cole managed.

"Little man is not so little, little man is taller than other little men." The stranger told him with a shark tooth smile.

"Oh yeah? Well awesome." Cole agreed, grinning back and trying not to look completely scared and lost.

"We get closer!" The man said, and up ahead Cole could see some light, and his ears began to hear cheering.

"W-what are they cheering for?" Cole asked, afraid to know.

"Hope it be you." The man said, grinning again, then turned to the other cave guys and said, "_Tigu dav nasahi le mate salaru onep ri lieneni.__" _The rest of the cave guys laughed loudly.

"Ha." Cole said in response. "What did you say?" He asked nervously a second later.

"I tell them you are funny, little man, I tell them maybe you not die so quickly." The man said, grinning once more and patting Cole on the back.

"D-die so quickly? O-oh. Why are the other little men dying quickly? Why are they dying quickly?" Cole repeated his question fervently.

"Relax little man, you have bad arm. You earn weapon with bad arm. Weapon means not die at all maybe." The guy said patting him again.

"Oh, not at all. Maybe. That's better." Cole said in a high voice.

"Okay enough talk, you enter _Glator-" _He began.

_"_Glatori Rigari, yeah I got that part." Cole said cutting him off. The man laughed.

"I like little man, I give luck." The man said, and promptly handing him a large foot long knife with jagged teeth. Then he smiled, like he'd just given Cole a sandwich. Cole stared at him with wide eyes for a moment.

"Thank you." He said at last, in a small and high pitched voice. With that, the cave men spun him around to face an archway, where the light and cheering was coming from. Cole swallowed. He gripped the knife tightly.

"What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?" Cole whispered, more rapidly by the minute. He crept closer to the archway.

And closer.

And closer.

Until the light flooded onto his face and body and the cheering was deafening. Cole squinted in the sudden light, which came from luminescent cocoons that hung from the ceiling that was also covered in stalactites. Cole began spinning in slow circle. He was standing in the middle of an enormous amphitheater, like the ones they used for gladiator fights in the ancient days. Cole looked around in amazement for a second before it hit him.

Oh shit.

Like the ones they used for gladiator fights in the ancient days.

Cole looked across from him where the creepiest thing he ever saw was sitting, poised.

It had a body like a giant scorpion, but its eyes were like a fly's, and its tail lacked the poisonous barb (thank God). It had dozen of legs and it was dripping slime everywhere. It locked eyes with Cole and shrieked aggressively.

The crowd went wild.

_"Sif Ge Gite!" _They chanted in unison. Cole had sinking feeling they weren't cheering for him.

Cole's brain began rapid fire cursing as the thing began moving slowly towards him. It shrieked again. Cole meekly raised the foot long knife, which now seemed entirely too small.

_I thought I was going to die from the impact of the fall down here. This is so much worse. _Cole began to think.

_Please be dreaming. _Cole begged in his mind.

The creature lunged.

**You may have guessed, but I like cliffhangers. AnYwAyS. Please follow this story if you like it, and leave a review because feedback it incredibly helpful. Also I promise the other ninja are coming, we're getting there, hang tight. **

** Keep Writing Keep Reading, Nova out ; )**


	4. The First Fight

**Ahhh I'm a day late. I apologize. Anyways here is chapter four for you all. Also shoutouts to everyone who followed!**

**LunaPikazard12, MightyShipper, RoddyPrime, Tex1412, TheNinjaOfArt, Wyvern42, snowdragon27**

**Thank you all so much it means the world that you guys like my work. Anyways, onto the chapter. ; )**

Cole was screaming. He knew somewhere in the back of his mind that it was extremely unimpressive, but at the moment it wasn't his biggest concern. Viciously attempting to circle him, was a creature he'd never seen before in his life.

Cole was mostly just sprinting around avoiding the creatures head. It's shrieking had filled his head, making his ears ring.

"Okay I get it!" Cole screamed stumbling as he ran. "You wanna eat me!" He finished. The crowd cheered loudly at this. Cole stopped for a splint second to glance over his shoulder and the creature's powerful tail caught him across the middle and Cole went flying across the arena. By some stroke of luck he wasn't impaled one of the sharp rib cages that were lying around. Cole skidded across the ground upon impact.

Dust and rocks sprayed his face. Cole coughed, then groaned in pain. The creature was hunched close to the ground and crawling towards him. Its tail lashed back and forth like a cats.

_Oh shit_. Cole managed. _This is it._ His brain told him.

_No no no. My father. Jay._ Cole told himself, and that was the extent of his argument. He was in too much pain to think.

"Hey!" A voice spoke suddenly from behind him. He rolled his back and glance backwards.

"Helloo?" He asked drearily.

"The gills." The voice said. Cole blinked confusedly. It took him a minute to realize there was another archway. A figure was standing there looking down at him. Cole couldn't really make out the details as the figure was standing just behind the light from the arena.

"Gills?" Cole repeated.

"They're raw from lack of water. Weak point." The figure told him, as if Cole was supposed to understand something from that. Cole stared for a minute.

"What?" He asked.

The figure sighed in exasperation.

"Take out the gills." The figure repeated.

"What gills?" Cole asked. Too late, the creature on top of him. Cole waveringly held up his little knife.

"Ahhhh!" Cole tried yelling at the creature. The creature shrieked in response, lifting its enormous head into the air. It was at this moment that Cole saw the gills running down the creature's neck. He hadn't noticed them before, being too focused on the head and tail.

"Oh gills!" Cole said. Maybe he had the slightest of chances. Cole got to his feet, grabbing onto the bars of the person's archway t support himself. He gripped the knife a little tighter.

_Who're you kidding, you'll never take that thing down._ Cole's head said. _You're a dancer from the nowhere town of Kingston. You're gonna die._

"Wait for it to strike." The figure said suddenly from behind him. Cole's brain was interrupted by the person behind him again.

"When it does, jump as high as you can. You will land on its head where you can slit its gills." The figure explained.

"You-you want me to jump on top of this thing?" Cole said in disbelief.

"It's the only place it can't reach you." The guy explained. The creature began to move.

"What the Hell!" Cole screamed, and as the creature reached him, jaws stretched wide, Cole bent down and pushed off the ground with all his strength, years of dance working with him. Cole slammed his eyes shut, then suddenly he was landing on hard scales. His eyes shot open and he screamed again.

He screamed as he held out his knife. He screamed as the creature bucked back and forth. He screamed as he plunged the knife into the side of the creature's neck, and he screamed as the creature reared up into the air, and he screamed until the creature stopped trashing, and finally lay still.

Panting, mostly from the screaming, he slid off the creatures back. He swallowed and looked nervously up at the foreign crowd.

Silence met him.

Cole looked down, and yanked his knife out of the creature's neck, just in case he would need it again. The creature's blood oozed black coating his knife and hands.

"Your weapon. Raise it." The guy at the archway said. Cole didn't hesitate to listen to him this time. After all the stranger had just saved his life. He raised the knife high.

The crowd erupted into cheering. As they cheered, the archway behind Cole began to open. The bars creaked from rust as they slid upwards. Cole blinked.

"Come on, get out of here." The stranger said, as the bars opened. Cole scurried over to the opening bars.

"Where do I go?" Cole asked, approaching slower.

"Just walk, you'll get there eventually." The figure said, and began stepping forward into the light. Cole glanced at him as they passed each other, Cole into the safety of the archway, the stranger into the full light of the arena. As the guy passed him, Cole managed to make out more details.

He wore bright red garments that looked as though they were made from silk along with gold lining. His hair stuck up violently on his head and was a warm brown. His amber eyes glinted dangerously as they hit the light, and a long scar ran across one eye. Strapped to his back was a golden sword with a handle that was designed to look like fire. It was thin and sharp and the handle was wrapped in beaten in leather. He wore similarly worn boot on his feet, and his palms were wrapped in strips of leather as well. Over his silken clothing he wore a chest piece, also made from leather.

He looked like a fighter.

Cole took it all in as he himself stepped back into the shadow. He was glad there weren't cave men in this archway. Cole watched as the bars slid shut, trapped the warrior in the arena. Cole stopped to watch the strange person.

_"Camosos!" _The stranger yelled loudly.

The crowd joined in and began to chant what he'd said. An archway opposite from the 'Camosos'warrior began to open. Cole watched in awe, wondering if he was about to see another strange new creature. He was also trying to avoid looking at the one whose neck he slit open.

Much to Cole's surprise, another creature did not come out of the gate. In fact, another cave looking person walk out, and yelled aggressively at the Camosos guy. The Camosos guys made no noise, quite unlike Cole.

The cave person stalked towards the warrior. He raised his sword as he did so. The warrior silently drew his sword as well.

The cave person struck. Cole looked away for a second. Then more cheering sounded and Cole looked back to the arena. The warrior was kicking the cave person in the face. The cave person stumbled back, face screwed up in pain.

Cole fist pumped silently to himself. He wanted the boy who saved his life to win. The warrior now walked towards the cave person and grabbed him by his arm. In one swift movement he grabbed his arm and flung him across the arena. The cave person got a face full of dirt. As the cave person was struggling to push himself up, the warrior walked over and stepped on the guys neck, pushing him back into the ground.

The warrior looked up into the stands. Cole followed his gaze. A man, dressed in similar silks, this time a poisonous purple color, was grinning and giving the warrior a thumbs down. Cole looked back to the warrior, who was giving the man a curt nod, and in one more swift movement, plunged his gold sword into the man's back.

The man cried out in agony, then his head fell back to the ground a moment later. Cole swallowed, his breathing heavy. The warrior raised his sword. The crowd erupted once more. Cole's breathing remained heavy and panicked. He began backing away from the archway.

Creature's that were trying to eat you was one thing. But that man had just been stabbed to death. Cole's breathing continued to elevate. Glancing one last time at the man, Cole turned and began sprinting.

He ignored the exhaustion in his limbs, and his brain simply shut off from not being able to handle it. Cole ran and ran, the only thing echoing in his thoughts was what the boy had said earlier. _Just walk, you'll get there eventually._ _But not walk. Run. Run until you are as far away from that arena as possible. _Cole thought erratically.

This particular hallway did not seem to end, but Cole barely noticed in his fear.

_This is not happening, this is not happening, this is not happening._ Cole's mind began to repeat. Falling down that stupid hole just seemed surreal, the creature seemed surreal, and that young boy killing that man surely was surreal. Cole was dreaming. No, Cole was having a nightmare. He needed to wake up.

_"_Please!" Cole screamed, finally stopping. He knelt to the ground and put his heads to his head. He began whispering instead.

_"_Please. Please wake up."

Cole sat back against the wall, pulling his legs to his chest. His eyes burned with tears. He gasped for air after running for so long. Warm streaks began spilling down his face. Cole failed to control his hitched breathing. He couldn't remember the last time he cried so badly. Probably never. Jay was the crier. Cole tried to remember all the times he had to calm his friend down.

"Slow your breathing." He muttered to himself, the words sounding familiar. Cole inhaled deeply, and exhaled slowly. It was much much harder than he thought the stop the sobs and hitched breathing. It took a great deal of control. Each breath would shake unsteadily as he exhaled, threatening for him to lose it all over again.

It took many long minutes, but finally Cole managed to steady his breathing. Tears were stilling welling up each time he dried them, but he could breathe now. Cole looked around the dark hallway. His eyes were finally beginning to adjust to all the darkness.

Cole blinked slow, and finally realized how exhausted he was. He wished he knew the time, because in the last few hours he'd climbed down a hole, fell to the bottom, been capture, been forced to fight and kill an enormous monster, then proceeded to run down an endless corridor for who knows how long. Everything ached, he had more scrapes and bruises than he could count. His hand was still broken, or sprained or something. His wrist was bleeding again from where the rope cut him, and his feet never wanted to take another step for his whole life.

Cole didn't know what to do. He still didn't know if he was dreaming or not.

"Okay Cole." He muttered to himself, "How do you turn a good dream into a bad dream?" He asked himself.

Music, Cole realized. Whenever Cole had trouble sleeping as a kid, his father would play music in his room and Cole would go right to sleep.

"Alright, you can sing. Come on buddy, you can sing." Cole told himself. He took one more steadying breathe, and began to quietly sing lyrics to himself.

_Now the night is coming to an end  
The sun will rise and we will try again_

_Stay alive, stay alive for me  
You will die, but now your life is free  
Take pride in what is sure to die_

_I will fear the night again  
I hope I'm not my only friend_

_Stay alive, stay alive for me  
You will die, but now your life is free_  
_Take pride in what is sure to die._

By the time Cole finished his song he felt a lot better. He sat in the silence, just ignoring the pain and the fear and the panic that was trying to set in. He just sat there in a dark corridor feeling numb.

Before he knew it, Cole had drifted off to sleep.

The horrors of this world would have to wait.

**Okay, well there's chapter four for y'all. And can you guess who the warrior is? It's pretty obvious lmao. And in case anyone was wondering, the song is Truce by 21 pilots. It's actually an amazing song, makes me feel better 10/10 times. Well anyways hope you enjoyed the chapter, I'll keep trying to get these up fast, please review your feedback is so so so helpful! Thanks to you all.**

**Keep Writing Keep Reading, Nova out ; )**


	5. Zane Julian

**Okaay so here we go with Chapter five. I know it's late, I had a really busy past few days so here's an extra long chapter for you all. : )**

**Also shoutouts to everyone who reviewed, it really means so much and encourages me to keep writing. LunaPikazard12, Bookkeeper2004, GrumpyBee (Thanks for the follow as well), TheNinjaOfArt (Gracias! ****Me alegra mucho que te guste mi escritura!)**

**Onto the chapter!**

Jay paced his room anxiously. His mother and father hadn't let him out since Cole had gone missing. They were scared there was someone dangerous out there. To be honest, Jay was probably more freaked out than they were, but despite all that he didn't want to be cooped up in his room. Sitting around felt _sooo_ frustrating. No one knew where his best friend was and he didn't even know how hard they were looking. Jay wanted nothing more than to run outside and scream Cole's name, and check all the places they'd ever been.

The best he could do so far was repeatedly text him, but Cole either lost his phone, or was choosing to ignore Jay. Neither option was ideal. Their text conversation, which a day before had been fun and lighthearted, went from Cole saying he was going to stay late at school, to Cole disappearing off the face of the Earth.

Anything could've happened in that span of time.

_Anything._

Jay flopped onto his bed with a growl of frustration.

"Cole." He muttered. "What happened buddy?" He whispered, fear lacing his tone.

What was more perplexing, was the fact that nothing remotely bad had ever happened in Kingston in the past, it was easily the number one most boring town in America. It didn't _have_ any history, nothing. Zip, nada, zero.

At least, Jay was pretty sure . . .

Jay sat up rapidly. He never actually studied the history of Kingston. In fact, they never taught Kingston history at school either, just plain old American history. He knew exactly nothing about where he lived. Before, Jay never really had reason to look into the history of where he lived. He always just assumed it had been bores-ville from day one.

But maybe . . . maybe there were some clues from the towns past as to what happened to Cole. Maybe some weird mystery that remained unsolved had risen again and claimed its next victim hundreds of years later and the only way they were ever going to find Cole was if they figured out what happened in the past.

Jay slapped himself.

"You're being stupid!" He yelled. "Dumbass!" He yelled looking into the mirror on his door. _Your brain is being overactive because you're freaked out._ He told himself sternly.

"Ugghhh! I have to _do _something." He muttered, standing up off his bed again to pace some more.

"Jay!" His mom called from downstairs. In a heartbeat Jay was sprinting out the door and down the stairs.

"Any news?" He asked frantically.

"Oh, sorry honey. The police looked all around and the only thing remotely criminal they found was that someone had vandalized that old playground on 56th. Nothing on Cole. I'm so sorry sweetie." His mom said, walking over and giving him a hug. Jay pulled away.

"The old playground on 56th?" He repeated sharply.

"Yeah, that's what they said. But w-"

"What was the vandalism?" Jay asked cutting her off.

"Well I don't know, I didn't ask. But wh-" She tried to ask.

"Gotta go mom!" Jay yelled running for the front door.

"Jay! Jay I don't want you out there all by yourse-" His mother began to call after him, but Jay was already out the door.

As he took off down the street, he pulled out his phone and began re-reading the last texts Cole had sent him.

_Hey wanna go 2 the park again today?_

_Hell no, that creepy gap in the ground might still be there._

_Oh, good point. Well quartet ran long so I'll be out late. Don't wait up._

"Ohhh." Jay told himself as he ran. "Cole you idiot!" He snapped at his phone. _That moron went back to the park, and something happened to him there_. Maybe he was even still there.

Jay arrived at his school and ran up the steps. He jerked on the door handle and breathed a sigh of relief when it was unlocked. They didn't lock the school often. Because _nothing happens here_. Jay thought sarcastically. He sprinted through the hallways, past the music room where _you were supposed to be idiot_ Jay thought to himself.

Jay ran all the way to the back entrance, out the back entrance, then ran up the street to the old abandoned playground. When his feet ran onto the bark chips, he stopped. He doubled over breathing heavily. When Jay finally caught his breath he looked up and scanned the playground.

He noticed the swings were lying on the ground and he walked over, still breathing hard. The ropes had all been cut off the swings and were nowhere to be seen. Jay raised an eyebrow at the oddness of it.

"Okaay." He said slowly, turning around and scanning the rest of the park. It took him a moment but he finally spotted the frayed end of one of the ropes, it was tied to one of the poles that supported the slide. He ran over to get a closer look and noticed it was tied to a second rope also from the swing set. He followed the rope line until it ended. Jay tried to pick up the end of the rope, but found that it wouldn't budge one bit. He tugged a bit harder. It still didn't move. Sighing sharply he scraped away some of the grass.

The rope went straight into the ground. The Earth was packed so tightly around it that the rope could've been grown right out of the ground itself.

"What the heck?" Jay muttered, holding the rope in his hands. He stared at the ground for a bit longer, mind reeling.

Then it hit him.

This was where the growing crack in the ground was.

"Oh!" Jay yelped, dropping the rope.

"Oh." He repeated suddenly concerned.

"Oh. Oh! Oh my gosh. Cole!" He yelled at the ground.

"Cole! Cole!" He screamed frantically. Jay dropped to his knees and began scrabbling at the dirt with his hands, removing clumps of dirt and throwing them over his shoulder.

"Oh gosh." He muttered, voice unusually high pitched. Cole had fallen down some stupid hole and got himself buried. Or something. It sounded stupid but, Jay knew this was the very last place his friend had been. Jay jerked on the rope some more, pulling up more clumps of dirt. Dirt dirt and more dirt. It was like the hole never even existed.

"Hang on in there Cole. I swear I'm gonna get you out!" Jay said, scared out of his mind.

_I'm going to get you out_.

**COLE'S POINT OF VIEW (POV)**

Cole woke up gasping. His whole body was covered in clammy sweat and he ached _everywhere_.

"Uuuuhhh." He groaned putting a hand to his head because it started spinning. Slowly he opened his eyes. The room he was in was dark. It had a few flickers of light, but mostly it was just dark. Cole squinted into the dark and tried to make out his surroundings.

It took him a second to realize he was in a bed.

Wait.

A bed. That was good. Was he in his room? Was all that horror he witnessed just a really bad nightmare? Cole could hardly remembered everything that had happened. That was a good sign of a dream. Right? Or maybe a concussion? He kept squinting around.

"You are awake." A soft voice said suddenly. Cole screamed and slammed his eyes shut. Not his room, not his room, NOT HIS ROOM.

"Don't kill me, don't put me back in that stupid arena and speak _English_." Cole squeaked. It was more of a hope than a demand.

"I am Zane. I will not kill you." The voice said. Cole peeked through one eye. A boy was standing in front of him, maybe seventeen or eighteen. The same age as Cole.

He was extremely pale, with hair that matched the part. His hair must have been platinum, but the darkness and the firelight gave it hints of gold. It was a short hair that was cut on the sides, and pushed back on his head revealing a perfect hairline. His eyes were such an icy blue that they seemed to be glowing. He was built too. He didn't look skinny or scrawny anywhere, but he didn't look like some sort of body builder either. He looked, sturdy.

His face was calm, and regarding Cole with a soft expression. His clothing was similar to the red warrior in the arena.

He wore white silk with bright blue linings. The only difference was that he wore no armor and bore no weapons. He wore a black belt around his silk shirt giving it an old fashion look, pants that were also black and slightly baggy, and white boots that came up to just below his knees.

_What era are these people from?_ Cole thought, looking Zane up and down.

"What is your name?" Zane asked, looking politely curious.

"I'm Cole." Cole told him quietly.

"Coal, like the ore?" Zane asked. "What an unusual name." He said thoughtfully.

"No, no Cole like the name." Cole corrected him. "C-O-L-E." He spelled out.

"Ah. What an unusual name." Zane repeated. They sat silently for a second.

"Listen, Zane." Cole began. "Could you maybe tell me where I am and what it going on and if I could please go home to the surface?" Cole rambled, pointing up as he finished.

"Oh we're not allowed near the Surface World." Zane explained. Cole blinked.

"Why?" He asked.

"Hush. Asking such questions will get us into trouble." Zane said, shutting down the subject. "I have instruction to dress you into proper attire." Zane said, holding up a bundle of black silk garments.

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" Cole asked, shifting in his school clothing. He was wearing jeans and a black sweatshirt and he was happy with that arrangement.

"Clothing from the Surface World in forbidden. You'll be killed." Zane explained calmly.

"Is that all." Cole muttered to himself while taking the bundle of clothing from Zane.

"So can you tell me what this place is? Or is that forbidden to?" Cole asked sarcastically.

"No, of course that's not forbidden. Welcome to the Underworld." Zane said, smiling. Cole dropped the clothing in his hands.

"The _Underworld_?" Cole repeated in disbelief.

"Yes the Underworld. That is what I said. Surface people sure are strange." Zane said, smiling a little.

"Strange. Yeah that's us." Cole agreed, picking the clothes back up again.

_The Underworld_. Cole thought, fear creeping into his mind. So he fell into . . . into Hell or something? Cole pondered this as he pulled off his hoodie and pulled on the black silk shirt. Its lining was a vivid amber color. Cole wrapped the belt around his waist, which was brown with a silver buckle.

"Um." Cole said, as he picked up the pants, and looked at Zane.

"Do you require assistance?" Zane asked kindly.

"Ah! No. No I require a little privacy please." Cole snapped, shuffling away from Zane.

"Oh course. My apologies Cole." Zane said, and turned around.

As quickly as he could, Cole pulled off his jeans and pulled on the new baggy pants that were gray and leathery.

"Decent." He told Zane.

"I can find you better clothing if this displeases you." Zane replied not turning around.

"What." Cole said confused. "No I meant you can turn around now." He corrected Zane.

"Oh right." Zane said, turning around again. Cole was pulling off his converse and pulling the new black boots up his leg.

"The clothing is actually really nice." Cole told Zane. Zane smiled warmly. For a second Cole sort of forgot where he was and how much like shit his brain was feeling. Zane's calm demeanor was contagious.

"Would you like to come outside now?" Zane asked him.

"Um. Sure." Cole agreed shrugging.

"Please be cautious of your hand. I just had its bandages changed." Zane told him while opening the door. Cole glanced down at his hand where it was indeed wrapped in clean white bandages and smelled of a sweet poultice.

"Thank you?" He said slowly and surprised. "I mean, thank you. Really." He corrected himself, and smiled up at Zane.

"My pleasure." Zane said nodding his head. Cole stepped out of the room into an enormous cavern.

"Oh my." Cole breathed taking in his new strange surroundings.

The cavern was enormous. It could've fit maybe ten skyscrapers, were they packed together. Instead of skyscrapers however, there were these massive columns reaching from the floor to the ceiling of the cave. Built into the columns were rooms, and little houses and buildings. They were mostly made of stone and dried mud, but their architecture was nice. They had little windows, each glowing with light from torches. There were maybe thirty massive columns and each had ten to fifteen little houses built into them from top to bottom.

On top of that, the whole room seemed to have crystals growing in it. The crystals were massive, some bigger than Cole, and they pulsed different colors, bringing light to the cavern. Around the columns there were little pathways of cobblestone where people were walking. Strung around the paths, between columns, there were strands of glowing crystals like Christmas lights.

Cole looked around more, and noticed the people walking around. Half of them were more cave people, doing everyday things, but a few of them wore silk like Zane and Cole's.

Also among the people were more strange creatures Cole had never seen before. There were creatures flying in the air that looked somewhat like fish with humming bird wings. There were creatures on the ground that looked like cats with scales, and some had multiple tails. There were creatures that peeked out of the ground. Cole couldn't get a good look before they burrowed back where they came from.

"Come, I will show you your room in the _Camosos _building." Zane said, taking Cole's hand and leading him down the path. But Cole pulled away and stopped.

"Camosos. That's what that kid said before he went out and killed some guy in that arena pit. What does it mean?" Cole asked nervously.

"Oh, you're talking about Kai. _Camosos_ means champion in the old language. Kai is the main champion of The Gladiator Pit. But they call _Glatori Rigari._" Zane explained. Cole blinked. That made a lot more sense.

"So wait, you know the crazy language those cave people speak?" Cole asked.

"They are not cave people Cole. They are called Un'dirians. I do not know their language very well, but I am trying to learn." Zane explained.

"Oh." Cole said, not really knowing how to respond to this.

"Can I show you the _Camosos _building now?" Zane asked him.

"Yes, yeah. Lead the way." Cole agreed, and followed Zane once more. As they walked, Cole couldn't help but gaze at the new world around him. He kept blinking hard to assure himself again and again that he _really_ wasn't dreaming.

He really wasn't.

However, with Zane here acting so calm and kind, and Cole not being in a freaking death pit with giant scorpion monsters, everything was a little less terrifying than it was before.

Zane led him down the main pathway, and then down a smaller one until they reached a column with really nice buildings built into it. Zane walked over to the column and began climbing the ladder that was there. Cole followed him. Zane didn't stop climbing for a long time, in fact they began to get extraordinarily close to the top and it took all of Cole's remaining willpower not to look down.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, Zane stop climbing the ladder, and instead stepped into the window of a large building. Cole followed him. When he looked up, there were all kinds of other silk wearing people in there.

"_Camosos_, this is Cole. He spells it C-O-L-E." Zane introduced him. Cole waved shyly at the very mean looking crowd in front of him. Some of them still wore armor, and there were weapons lining the walls. They were standing very close together, like they'd known each other their whole lives. They eyed Cole suspiciously. _Please tell me this is a nightmare_. Cole thought, all peace abandoned.

"Um . . .hi?"

**OKay so chapter five, what'd you all think? I swear, he will finally meet all the others in the next chapter. . Anyways i hope you all liked the chapter. I'll try to have the next one out soon. Please reveiw with any feedback, i love hearing it! Btw, if you're looking for something fun/funny to read, i also write some oneshots that are basically taken from comedy scripts/incorrect quotes and I take request of there, it's a lot of fun, so if you're interested in something stupid check it out! Shameless advertiesement, heh heh. Anyways . . . **

**Keep Writing Keep Reading, Nova out ;)**


	6. Jay's Storm

**OK, I know I've been gone for a few more days than I meant. I had a really busy weekend and I apologize that I'm getting this out so late. Thanks to everyone following the story!**

**JAY'S POV**

Jay had barely slept in the past few days. He was constantly looking over his shoulder, and constantly watching where he stepped. He had made an effort to avoid all sidewalks cracks. He hated riding in cars because he couldn't avoid the cracks then.

Ever since he went to that playground, Jay had been utterly freaked out. He still had a doubt drifting around in his mind that he was just crazy, because after all, people falling into the earth was . . . well, crazy.

However, a good part of himself just couldn't get rid of the gut feeling he had. A gut feeling that Cole _had_ gone back to the hole, and that _something_ was down there, and that Cole was too. Jay couldn't explain it, and he knew no one would ever believe him, but after seeing that rope, he knew Cole had had something to do with it.

Jay had returned to the park every day, despite his terror of the place, which was now all manners of creepy. He was returning there now, with a shovel and flashlight in his hand. He walked over to where he'd found the rope that first day. There was a widening pit there now, one which Jay had taken the time to dig.

The hole was maybe the size of a grave at this point, six feet down and a circumference that could fit maybe five people. Jay set his flashlight down on the edge, and with a calming breath he slid down the wall of the pit to the bottom. Dirt rallied around his shoes and his hand was instantly scraped and muddied seeing as he used it to balance himself as he slid down.

At the bottom of the pit, Jay gripped his shovel tightly to begin digging. His hands ached and stung. He'd been digging this for days. His shoulder had knots, and his hands had callouses. He had brought gloves today but they did little to stop the pain of the blisters that had already formed.

Jay drove his shovel into the earth as hard as he could, then once his shovel was imbedded he stomped on the edge of the shovel head thus driving the whole head into the muddy earth. Gripping the shovel tightly, he heaved and uprooted the shovel again. His muscles screamed in protest and he felt some of the blisters of his hands shred.

That's when the first raindrop fell. Jay flung the dirt over his head so it made it out of the pit. A second raindrop fell as Jay drove his shovel in for a second time. The sky darkened and rumbled angrily in the distance. Jay stomped on the shovelhead. Rain began to sprinkle down faster as he threw the second scoop behind him.

In minutes, the rain was coming down relentlessly. The drops were enormous, at least the size of a golf ball. They were close together too, making it seem like someone was pouring a bucket on Jay from above. In moments, his clothes were thoroughly soaked and sticking to his now clammy wet body. His hair which once sat proudly on his head now resembled that of a wet cat's. It was plastered to his forehead dripping more water into his blue eyes. Both of his arms shook in cold and exhaustion as he continued to drive that shovel into what was now a pit of mud.

Jay tossed his head to flick some of the hair out of his face and a stream of water went flying from his head. His whole body was shivering. He felt his hands bleeding under the gloves, some of it was even soaking through and dribbling down the shovels handle. Jay felt hot water suddenly drip down his face. He was crying. Though with the rain one wouldn't be able to tell.

The thunder storm was passing right over him. Another ear shattering roll shook his head. It sounded like someone was firing a canon at him. The earth was declaring war because of him poking around where he shouldn't have.

Breathing heavily, Jay looked up into the darkened sky that looked down on him.

"Come ON!" He taunted the sky, then he screamed at those clouds with frustration. The exhausted was getting to him. He drove the shovel in.

"Like a little rain is gonna scare me away." He muttered, flinging dirt over his shoulder. More thunder.

"Or THUNDER!" He yelled upwards. At his words, a crack of lightning flashed above him from far away. It light up his eyes and face and the surrounding darkness, and then it was gone, leaving him alone again.

"Bring it on!" He yelled. He drove the shovel in.

More thunder exploded the world with noise. He drove the shovel in. Lightning illuminated the ground once more, the rain becoming visible for a mere second. Jay drove the shovel in. Freezing rain battered him in the face. Wind whipped his hair around, causing it to whip into his face. His nerves, cold from the rain, felt a cold sting whenever that happened.

"I'm coming to get you Cole." He whispered to himself. Another strike of lightning lit the world up, then was gone. Jay drove the shovel in one last time. This time however, his shovel drove into the earth and the dirt around where he'd struck crumbled away as well. Jay was now standing at the edge of a very dark, very deep pit into the earth. His shovel finally fell from his hand, and hit the muddy earth with a resounding thud. Jay fell to his knees at the edge of the pit.

"Oh my God." He whispered, as he stared into an abyss. He was right.

"Cole?" Jay whispered, half wondering if he would get a response. He peered into the darkness as lightning struck behind him. Its light lit the pit for a brief second, and Jay's bright blue eyes widened as he took his second to peer down.

The pit went on and on for ages, but for a split second Jay thought he saw a bottom. Because there, with his vision fully strained, Jay saw a different kind of light. It was a tiny pinprick, but it was glowing and orange and it flickered in a familiar way.

_Fire_. Jay thought, and darkness fell around him once more. Jay didn't have a very long time to think however, because a new rumbling sound, this time from below him, starting to fill his ears.

"What _now_!" Jay yelled in frustration, as he stood up and tried to keep his balance. He looked down into the pit. It was still just dark. A flash of lightning finally came and Jay looked. The pit walls were _moving_. More specifically, they were moving back together, like the ground was heeling itself.

"Nonononono!" Jay yelled, grabbing his shovel and bashing at the rapidly heeling earth. _WhatdoIDO!_ Jay thought erratically. In a desperate moment, Jay drove his shovel into the left side of the wall as hard as he could and then in a moment of zero thinking and total dedication and a very high pitched scream, Jay jumped into the abyss. With as he might, he pushed the handle side of the shovel into the right wall. The shovel just kept sliding down, both ends dragging through the pit walls spraying dirt and mud into his eyes and mouth.

"BAD IDEA JAY!" Jay screamed as he slid further into the abyss. Just as he thought he was going to fall to his death, the shovel caught on something and Jay slammed to a stop. The sudden stop jerked on both his hands and his right hand slipped on the smooth handle. His left hand, bleeding and stinging, gripped the handle for dear life. Jay was sure his knuckles were more than white, probably bleached. He probably looked like a skeleton under his glove.

Jay trembled, muscles strained and aching, as he reached up his right hand to grip the shovel with two hands. He looked up to see what the shovel had stopped on. The head part was now resting on what was possibly an enormous bolder or a decent sized stone, Jay couldn't see all of it. The handle part was stopped in a tangle of very thick roots which Jay assumed was from the tree at the park.

Jay knew he wouldn't be able to sit or lay on the shovel, it would surely break under his weight. The only reason it held up now was because his hands were evenly apart, so the weight was all putting pressure on the middle.

Breathing rapidly, and scared as hell, Jay squinted into the surrounding darkness. Water was still dripping on him from the surface and he could still hear the wind and thunder from outside, though it was considerable more isolated in the pit that out there.

Jay continued looking around until he saw something out of the corner of his eye. _The rope_. Jay thought happily, seeing the frayed white ends of the playground rope that Jay had assumed Cole put together.

"Okay Jay, you can do this." He said, talking out loud to comfort himself. He judged the distance to the rope.

"Totally doable." He said, trying to assure himself. He exhaled slowly then began swinging his body with his legs. His arms were trembling, threatening to give out at any moment. Jay swung faster, trying to gain momentum. Another lightning struck up in the sky way above him and Jay threw himself off the shovel on his swing forward. For a second he was flying in the air. It seemed to be in slow motion as nothing supported him.

Then the moment ended as the rope was in front of him and Jay was grabbing it and squeezing his hands as much as possible. He felt more blisters and callouses get shredded upon the impact. The light from the lightning had now ended. Jay slid a tad bit down the rope, but managed to hang on. Jay swung some more until he managed to grab hold of one of the walls. He quickly tied the rope around his waist in case his arms still decided to give out, and began scaling the wall.

His gloves slipped a lot due to being wet and muddy, and his shoes pushed dirt of the all into the pit below. When he paused to take a breath he wiped hair out of face smearing mud everywhere. He just didn't care at this point. Everything on him had dirt or mud covering it. Jay glanced down with a relieved look.

What he was trying to do had worked, he'd succeeded in stopping to Earth from pushing itself back together. He needed to come back here. He couldn't lose this hole. It was where Cole was. He still felt the earth groaning and shaking, but it was moving back together for now. Jay had bought himself some time. He grinned as his gloved hand reached over the edge of the pit, and dug into the wet ground above. He pulled himself over the edge and back into his personal hole. The rain was finally dying down, now just sprinkling around him. The thunder was loud off in the distance and the lightning was less frequent.

The storm had passed.

For Jay.

**KAI'S POV**

The boy from earlier waved shyly at the room. He looked nervous, and like he wanted to be anywhere else in the underworld.

Zane had happily introduced him to everyone as Cole. Cole seemed more promising than any of the other surface dwellers that had ended up down here. Most of them died in the first fight, even with Kai trying to help them.

Cole had surprised Kai. He managed to kill a _Jai'corio _in his first fight. Granted, Kai had told him how to do it, but not everyone could always execute it. Kai didn't greet Cole straight away, so neither did the other champions. The C_amosos_, or champions, always followed behind him. It was a courtesy since he was the first and strongest champion. Kai regarded Cole.

Cole may have looked terrified, but his eyes were also very aware and he looked strong. Zane had fixed his clothing issue and Cole now wore the traditional champion robes in black. His face was smeared with dirt, and his right hand had a bandage, also courtesy of Zane. His hair was longish and black, it had a layer of sand in it from the arena. The _Jai'corio's_ blood was still on his neck, little dried spatters of black. If Cole didn't wash it off, it would poison his skin, which would most likely kill him.

"He has _Jai'corio_ blood on him." Kai told Zane. Zane nodded to him.

"I will show him to the springs later." He agreed.

"_Camosos_ Cole." Kai finally greeted. "I'm _Camosos_ Kai, congratulations on not dying earlier." Kai said, holding out a hand. Cole swallowed and shook his hand. One by one the other _Camosos_ began to walk over and greet Cole.

"_Camosos _Nya. I'm Kai's sister." Nya said, shaking the new comer's hand. Cole smiled awkwardly.

"Hey." Cole answered. Nya nodded and resumed her place next to Kai.

"I am _Camosi _Lloyd." Lloyd said, shaking his hand.

"Camosi?" Cole asked confused.

"I'm not a champion just yet, I still have one more year." Lloyd explained.

"More training?" Cole guessed. Lloyd shook his head.

"It was nothing to do with training. _Camosos_ is a coming of age type thing." Lloyd continued. Cole blinked.

"But what if someone isn't prepared to fight even if they're the right age?" Cole asked confused. Kai frowned.

"It's my job to train _Camosi_ before they fight in the pit, since I'm the leading _Camsos_." Kai told Cole, putting a hand on the young blonde's shoulder.

"Oh. So does that mean you could sharpen me up before I have to fight again?" Cole asked eagerly.

"You are past your sixteenth year, yes?" Kai asked, brow still furrowed.

"Well yeah, but I've never fought anything before in my life." Cole argued. "Well, except that creepy scorpion thing, but even then you were telling me what to do so I don't even know if I can count that you know and besides that was most fear keeping me alive-" Cole's ramble was interrupted by Zane putting a hand on his shoulder.

"_Camosos_ Kai is not allowed to train anyone but a _Camosi_. However, it is not monitored how we use our free time. I will train you if you'd like." Zane offered.

"Zane." Kai growled. Zane turned to him.

"Kai he's from the surface. We cannot expect to know all we know. He didn't grow up here. I _will _teach him." Zane pushed. Kai met Zane's cool gaze for a long moment and then,

"Don't get caught." Kai growled. "Come on Lloyd. We're not finished with your training today." Kai said, leading the young blonde away. However, once in the doorway Kai sent Lloyd to begin setting up to train and remained behind the doorway to hear the conversation.

"Ignore my brother, he's always stingy around new surface dwellers. He'll warm up to you." Nya promised, smiling at Cole. Cole smiled back. Then asked,

"Do they really force people to fight once they're sixteen?"

Now it was Nya's turn to frown.

"Once we're sixteen we should be strong enough to hold our own even without training. And no one forced us to fight. We are the children of the noble families, it's our job to please the Underlord." Nya said as if that much was obvious.

"The . . . Underlord?" Cole asked confused. Zane chimed in.

"The Underlord is our leader, he takes good care of us. We must respect his wishes. Besides, fighting in _Glatori Rigari_ is not that much to ask." Zane explained.

"Not that much t-" Cole stopped his sentence in disbelief.

"A fight to the death is kind of a lot don't you think. "Cole pointed out.

"Don't challenge the Underlord's requests, you'll get us all into trouble." Zane said, suddenly sounding stern. Cole held up his hands in defense.

"Sorry." Cole muttered. "I guess I'm used to different customs as a _surface dweller_." Cole said uneasily. Nya sighed.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to things around here." Nya told him, patting his shoulder. Kai however, was now uneasy about Cole. He said such bold and _dangerous_ things. If he wasn't careful he would get them into trouble like Zane had said.

"I guess." Cole agreed. Then he added, "So am I allowed to ask why a surface dweller like me is made a Camosos or a champion or something?"

"Remember I told you about the Un'dirians. Well it's their job to find creatures or people that can fight in the pit. They always face off against a _Jai'corio._ If they win, and they are of age, they become _Camosos_. If they are not of age, they are made _Camosi_." Zane explained.

"Wait, I thought they weren't allowed to fight if they weren't old enough?" Cole pointed out.

"No, only the young citizens of the Underlords cities don't fight. If you are an unidentified person, you can always be put in the _Glatori Rigari_." Zane told him.

"Oh." Cole said slowly. Kai didn't like the way he said 'Oh.'

It was only minutes, but Kai could already tell. Cole's head was filled with dangerous ideas.

Ideas that got you killed.

**Okay so there's your next chapter. Hopefully I'll have the next out so much sooner. Please R+R it's super helpful!**

**Keep Writing Keep Reading, Nova out ;)**


	7. Zane's Nightmare

**Okay so this is kinda late. Anyways, thanks to everyone who reviewed and followed! Thanks to Guest and LunaPikazard2 and Satirates! Your support is literally everything to me! Enough of me, onto the chapter!**

Cole's head slammed into the ground. Again.

"You _are_ getting faster." Zane told him, extending a hand. Cole took it reluctantly.

"My head begs to differ." He muttered.

"Ah, we should stop. Perhaps resume after a short while." Zane offered. Cole was too tired to respond, so he just nodded. His hair flopped tiredly at his shoulders, his black strands were coated in a layer of white from the arena sands still from earlier.

"That reminds me." Zane said, as he pulled off his leather armor pieces.

"Hmm?" Cole asked, struggling to pull his off as well.

"You need to wash that blood off, it can be deadly if you don't." Zane explained.

"Is there anything down here that isn't dangerous? The crystals don't shoot lasers do they?" Cole asked, eyeing one near him warily.

"Don't be stupid." A rough voice said from behind him. Cole turned to see Kai leaning against a column of rock.

"I was kidding." Cole muttered, more to himself than anything. Cole hadn't been down here for very long, maybe several hours, and he still barely understood anything about being down here. So far the only thing that did make sense was that Zane was much nicer than Kai was.

He didn't know why there were crystals _everywhere_ or why he was in some version of _Hell_ or why they were going to stick him back in that psychotic arena, or who the Underlord was, or this crazy new language that sounded like a cat coughing up marbles when anyone spoke it.

All Cole knew was that Zane was the only person down here that might be able to help him, and that once again he didn't seem to have a choice in what he was going to do. Just like his father used to decide things for him, he was being decided for again.

He did _not_ want to go back into that stupid arena, he did not want to learn to fight giant scorpion monsters, or live with the other champions, or be in this Godforsaken place at all. Cole wanted to find somewhere where he could climb back to the top, and then dig a hole to the outside world and go home and forget any of this ever happened.

_So why don't you?_ A new voice asked in his mind. It was Jay's voice again. Cole kept imagining what Jay might say in a situation like this. Jay may have been scared of a lot of things, like spiders, and the dark, and creepy holes in the ground, but when Jay set his mind on something he _never_ gave up. Plus Jay was able to set his mind on _whatever_ he wanted.

Basically his smaller friend took what he wanted when he wanted it regardless of consequences.

Cole could never do that. Cole always did whatever other people wanted. He was a people pleaser. He made sure everyone had their way, no matter what it meant for him.

Now the first time he did what he wanted, which was explore that stupid hole, it literally ended up with him stuck in Hell.

_Life's funny_. Cole muttered in his head.

"Cole?" Zane asked suddenly. Cole's attention snapped back up to the boy in white.

"Hmm?" He asked, eyes wide. He'd completely stopped paying attention to what Zane and Kai were talking about.

"Are you ready to go to the springs?" Zane asked slowly.

"Lead the way?" Cole answered, crossing his fingers. To his relief Zane smiled, nodded, and began leading Cole away from the clearing where they were sparring. Kai eyed Cole as they passed. Cole attempted a smile at Kai but he was sure his nervousness poured through it. Kai exhaled at him before turning and climbing back up the ladder.

"The springs are always open, so we commonly go there after a fight." Zane explained. Cole caught up and walked next to him.

"That's great." Cole agreed. He glanced around the large cavern scanning for any place he might be able to climb up. On the far side of the cavern there was a column that seemed to keep going, up into the darkness for a while. The ceiling still looked like it was miles high, so Cole doubted climbing it was even an option, but at least knowing there was a way up was something. Something was better than nothing.

"Here we are." Zane said, pointing to an overhang with several pools of steaming water. Crystals were embedded in the floor in certain patterns. As they got closer, Cole began to feel the heat radiating from the water. It wasn't until now that he realized just how cold it was down here. The steam from the water was a huge difference.

"I'll wait outside for you." Zane said. Cole nodded and entered the cave. It smelled strongly of something sweet and the light from the crystals was echoed in the steam surrounding him. Cole walked over to one of the pools. There were clean boxers and towels stacked on a shelf near him. Cole carefully pulled off his silk clothing and boots until he was just in his boxers and slowly sunk into the hot spring.

The hot water made him immediately want to go to sleep. He was exhausted from everything that happened. He still didn't know if he'd been here for two days or one but for once he couldn't bring himself to care. He rinsed out the sand from his hair, and the dirt and sweat and blood from his face and neck.

His muscles melted in the heat of the water and Cole briefly wondered how the water was heated. He peered into the steamy pool to the bottom where they would usually heat a pool like this. There, protected by a clear layer of crystal, was molten lava.

The pool was heated by lava.

Yup, Cole was in Hell.

_Okay I'm drawing the line at lava._ Jay's voice said.

_So what am I gonna do?_ Cole wondered.

_You're going to escape. You're going to sneak out when everyone is asleep and climb that column until you reach the top._

Cole sighed to himself, but imaginary Jay was right. Cole _had_ to get out of here.

And it had to be now.

Cole lay in his bed unable to sleep. It had been hours and none of the champions were sleeping yet.

Zane was sitting in his bed reading scroll after scroll and whispering things in the Underworld language and writing things down. Cole knew what learning a language was like, he'd taken French in school for three years.

Kai and Lloyd were quietly talking in Kai's bunk. Kai seemed to be telling him stories, or maybe lessons. It was weird seeing the red champion acting so at ease. Cole had gotten violent vibes from him. But around the small blonde, Kai seemed to soften up a ton.

Nya wasn't even in the building yet. She was still in the clearing at the base of their column practicing. Cole could hear her grunting and breaking things. Zane had explained she always did this when she had a fight the next day. Cole had asked if she had ever a lost a fight to which Zane gave him a strange look.

'None of us ever lose. If we lose we die. That's why we're the champions.' Zane had said. Cole was taken aback at this information. Losing meant death? Even more reason for Cole to get out of here. He'd been lucky the first time around, and Kai had been there to help him.

But pretty soon he'd have a fight where he'd be on his own and his luck would run out.

Cole sighed and stared at the dirt ceiling. He half debated falling asleep. He was exhausted and there was still a chance he'd wake up at home, but he decided it was a gamble he didn't want to make.

Lloyd went to bed first, yawning and curling up on Kai's bed, who then carried the child over to his own bunk. Once Lloyd was settling, the number one champion climbed up to his own bed and passed out.

Cole found it enormously funny that 'the champion' slept with his mouth open and his limbs splayed out everywhere.

Zane followed suit maybe half an hour later when he seemed to be stuck on a new topic. He rubbed his blue eyes tiredly and set his paper under his bed and blew out the candle he was working by. Zane lay stick straight in bed, but his eyes looked peaceful enough.

Nya was still outside beneath the column. Cole heard more crystals shatter. Who knew how long Nya would be out there. Cole sighed and made an executive decision. He would just have to sneak past the fierce girl.

He waited another half an hour, just to be sure they were all really asleep, and then slowly rolled out of his own bunk. Kai shifted, but he'd been shifting all night, so Cole didn't stop. He crept carefully across the floor. More shifting behind him. He assumed it was Kai again. He was about to be at the exit when he heard,

"Don't."

Cole froze and spun around, looking extremely guilty.

"I'm sorr-" He stopped. Everyone was still asleep in their beds. He blinked extremely confused.

"Hello?" He whispered quietly.

"Stop!" A shout came. Cole flinched and raised his hands defensively. Still nothing.

"Mm. No." More incoherent muttering. Cole looked around trying to locate the speaker. Finally he saw Zane, restlessly shifting and muttering defensive words.

"Zane?" Cole whispered. Zane did not answer him. He was most assuredly asleep.

Cole breathed a sigh of relief. His escape window was still there. He could still get out of this awful place. Zane muttered again. His muttering sounded bad, scared. Frantic even. Cole stopped in front of the doorway. His eyes shut in an internal argument with himself.

_Just get out of here._

**_He looks so scared, and restless._**

_Come on now's your chance._

**_Imagine the horrible things he's seen._**

_Stop thinking about other people for once in your life._

**_I'm never going to stop am I?_**

_Not likely. _

**_I have to get him out too._**

_No you don't._

**_I have to get them all out._**

_Dammit Cole._

**_Well I'm already damned. This is Hell isn't it?_**

_Yes, which is why we should leave while we have the chance._

**_I can't just leave him!_**

_Why not?_

**_That's not who I am._**

Cole bashed his head on doorframe a few times, then rushed to Zane's side.

"Zane!" He said loudly, shaking his extremely pale friend. Zane muttered some more, face screwed up in fear.

"ZANE!" Cole yelled. Zane's eyes shot open in an instant he had turned and dove into the safety of Cole's arms. Cole blinked in surprise.

"It keeps _happening _Kai." Zane said softly, and Cole felt drips of hot water on his neck. Zane was crying. Cole tried not to freak out. He wasn't nervous about the crying, Jay cried all the time, when he couldn't handle all the jerks in school, or when his parents fought. He was freaking out because it was _Zane_.

Even though Cole barely knew Zane, he was still the number one most calm and composed person he'd ever met, so crying was the last thing he expected Zane to do. Zane seemed like someone who was at peace with all of his choices in life, and understood the path he was on.

Cole didn't say anything at first. He didn't want Zane to be embarrassed when he realized he was tightly grabbing Cole's clothing and crying into his chest, and not Kai. He waited until Zane slowed his breathing before finally saying,

"Hey buddy, it's me."

Zane looked up surprised.

"Oh. Cole." He said, looking away and sitting back on his bed. "I apologize." He said, putting his head in his hands.

"It's really okay. But uh, what's wrong?" Cole said, taking a seat next to Zane.

"It's nothing you need to concern yourself with." Zane said quietly.

"Too late." Cole teased. Zane blinked, as if he'd never met someone who continued to ask what was wrong.

"I sometimes see terrible things when I'm dreaming." Zane admitted finally.

"What like nightmares?" Cole asked.

"I don't know. What is a 'nightmare'?" Zane repeated.

"You know, like a bad dream. We call them nightmares." Cole explained.

"Yes, it was a bad dream. A nightmare." Zane agreed.

"Well what was it about?" Cole asked.

"Oh awful things. You wouldn't want to hear them." Zane told him.

"Well the only way to get over a nightmare is to talk about it, and I think I'm the only one awake." Cole pointed out.

"Nya is awake." Zane argued, looking out the window and down below where Nya was still training.

"Nya, is busy." Cole countered, turning Zane's attention back to him.

"Well. It was mostly about what would happen if I ever lost." Zane breathed a sigh of relief to have it off his chest.

"In the arena?" Cole clarified. Zane nodded.

"Or if perhaps Lloyd loses when he must fight, or if Kai ever lost, or Nya. I don't think I'd be very happy if I was the only _Camosos_." Zane explained.

"Well of course not. They're like your family. You grew up with them. It makes sense that you wouldn't want anything to happen to them. I have a friend from the surface world who's like that to me." Cole told him.

"Really?" Zane asked, smiling lightly.

"Yeah, I think he's really like you too." Cole answered. Zane smiled for real now.

"I know I could probably get into trouble for this, but I sometimes wonder what life would be like if our jobs were not to fight in _Glatori Rigari_. Could you? I don't know. Perhaps? Well okay. "Tell me just a little?" Zane stuttered.

"About the surface?" Cole asked surprised. Zane nodded, eyes wide.

"Well-" Cole thought about all the hundreds of things he could tell Zane about. All thought of escaping had left Cole's mind and he now had a new mission. He had to convince Zane that there was something better out there. Because only then would he ever be able to get him out of this terrible place.

Cole decided to tell Zane about something that personally he struggled with. Something he wished he'd taken advantage of when he had the chance. Something he never fought for, but regretted never having fought for it. Something he didn't realize was so important until all of it got taken away and he realized how much he wanted it.

"Well for starters, we have freedom."

**Okay! We're getting somewhere! Nya's fight will be next chapter! Will Cole convince Zane and the others (Kai might be the tricky one) that escape is worth it? Will Jay venture into the hole? Will Cole survive his second fight and have to kill somebody? Find out next time on, 'The Gladiator Pit' Lmao. R+R and thanks for all your support!**

**Keep Writing Keep Reading, Nova out ;)**


	8. Ki'rra and the Unicorn

**Ok, so I know I went on Hiatus like super early in the story. TBH this whole thing has been me trying to cure my writers block a bit. Anyhow, I did begin school, so I was pretty busy, but I slapped some sense into myself and I'm picking up my pen again. Here is chapter eight for those of you still reading.**

Cole followed closely behind Zane, Kai and Lloyd. It was the next morning, and Nya's fight was today. Though he was utterly relieved to be in the stands rather than the _sands_, he still couldn't shake off the sinking feeling in his gut, the one he started to have anytime the pit was mentioned. Walking into the stands and seeing the godforsaken bloodied arena again made that sinking feeling, feel instead like a sudden and terrifying drop.

"Keep up." Kai grumbled, jerking his head at Cole. Cole realized in his fear, he had stopped walking. With a lot of effort, he dragged his eyes away from the bone filled sands of quickly caught up with the others. Kai led the group towards the top of the stands where the seats were more decorated and had a better view of everything.

Cole didn't necessarily want a _better_ view. In fact, his plan was to sit behind Zane, who was quite tall, and glance out periodically at the coming fight. Unfortunately, he didn't get to sit behind Zane. Kai pointed to a seat next to Zane, in line with the others, and Cole knew better than to argue, so he sat.

The stands were already full by the time the_ Camosos_ had taken their seats. Only one seat, a large throne like seat, decorated in dark purple and bloodred silks, was empty.

Beside him, Zane and Kai suddenly stood up, along with the rest of the crowd. Cole leaned over, about to ask Zane why everyone was standing, when Kai grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet as well.

"Why are we standing?" Cole was finally able to whisper.

"Respect." Zane said under his breath. Cole blinked because that hardly answered his question. _Respect for what? _Cole wondered. _Or who?_ He followed everyone else's gaze until finally he saw a tall man, at least, he was pretty sure it was a man, dressed in colors that matched that of the throne. He was walking towards the throne, with a small succession behind him. The succession was composed of what looked like Un'dirians, given their shaven heads, black markings, and yellow eyes, but the silks they wore suggested otherwise.

Cole wasn't entirely sure how the underworld worked exactly, but so far, from what he could tell, the Un'dirians were at the bottom, followed by people who wore silk clothing, followed by the _Camosos_, and then the Underlord. Whom Cole was willing to bet was the man who was currently ascending to the throne. The Underlord walked up towards the stands, slowly and regally.

Though he was far away, Cole was able to make out several details. He wore a long purple silk cape, his shirt was similar to the ones the _Camosos _wore, only there were more gold patterns on his that accented the main dark purple of his shirt. His pants were black leather, and he wore matching black boots that looked like they could crush a man's skull beneath them.

The reason Cole wasn't sure if he was human, was because protruding from his back were what looked like wings, only they looked like burned stumps of what used to be wings. Atop his head was a twisted black crown, with razor sharp points, and the metal looked as if it had melted slightly, then was frozen solid once more, because hanging off the rim of the crown were was looked like drips of black coming from the crown, only they were rigid and didn't move. His eyes shone, one purple one blood-red and Cole realized what the color scheme was inspired from. From his waist hung a sword, embedded with red gemstones, and his belt was black and covered in the same stones.

Cole swallowed while staring at this powerfully looking being. His eyes seemed to hold no emotion in them, like he didn't care that he was here, or perhaps that there was somewhere else that he wanted to be.

The caped man took his seat, and the rest of the crowd followed suit along with Cole. The man leaned forward and began to speak.

"_Higra reloi fretlei." _He said, his voice was low and gravelly, but it carried loudly through the entire amphitheater. Before Cole had a chance to ask what he said, Zane leaned over and whispered.

"Welcome loyal subjects."

Cole nodded as the Underlord continued to speak and Zane continued to translate.

"Recently, one of you managed to catch a very rare species indeed, and now you will be rewarded with watching your new creature fight to the death with none other than…" Zane trailed off as the Underlord did. Below Cole, a group of Un'dirians began a drum-roll with bones.

"_Camosos_ Nya." Zane finally said as the Underlord yelled it into the stands.

The gate to the archway opposite them began sliding upwards, rust and joints screeching as they rubbed together. The crowd began chanting '_Camosos_' and Cole held his breath as Nya stepped in the luminous light of the arena. He _still_ didn't know what was in those cocoons or why they were so bright. He made a mental note to ask Zane later.

Nya wore her gray silk with dark blue linings, along with her leather armor pieces. In her hand she held a double ended spear, each end had enormous three-point barbs like a trident. Her black hair was tied back tightly behind her head and her eyes, amber like her brothers, shone fiercely.

Cole swallowed as the other archway began to slide open as well, and the crowd erupted in cheering. Cole heard a strange clicking noise as the new creature to slide out into the light.

It was…

Cole blinked hard.

It was a….

Surely not, it was utterly absurd. But no, there is was in the flesh, a perfect image match to every description it ever had.

It was a unicorn.

"That's a unicorn." Cole said faintly. Zane gave him a strange look but didn't answer. Cole know he was right, it had hair so white is was gossamer and upon its head was a black three or four-foot-long spiraling horn, razor sharp and deadly looking. Its eyes were pure gold, no pupils or anything, just gold. Red splatters coated its pure colored fur. Cole held his breath in shock and awe.

His mind suddenly widened and began believing in hundred of possibilities as one's mind does when they see a childhood myth suddenly _literally_ prance in front of your eyes.

The unicorn reared its slender head, neighing, then angled it's head downward, brandishing his horn like a spear, and charged straight at Nya.

Nya raised her double ended spear and screamed in defiance and charged as well.

Cole closed his eyes as the two graceful warriors met.

**Jay's POV:**

Jay heaved the pile of climbing gear onto the counter. The store clerk gave him a blank look.

"And that knife." Jay added pointing to where a jagged knife hung behind the clerk. The clerk sighed and grabbed the knife for him.

"Is that all?" The clerk asked, drumming his fingers. Jay had been here for a hour, trying to find a million different things.

"Yes." Jay said finally. The clerk sighed in relief and began scanning the things under the checkout. It was Jay's turn to drum impatiently as the clerk moved about as fast as peanut butter pours.

"Your total is 62.89$." The clerk said at last. Jay fished out his wallet and pulled out a hundred-dollar bill that was a apart of his college savings from the bank. Without hesitation he handed it to the clerk. The clerk slowly held the bill up to the light, and after a _looong_ moment of contemplation, put the bill in the register and pulled out Jay's changed. Jay snatched the change, pocketed the money, grabbed the armful of climbing gear and the knife, and ran out the door with a loud 'thank you' over his shoulder. Once outside the store he stopped to dump everything into his backpack and wrapped the knife and its holder around his waist.

The next instant, Jay was sprinting down the street back to the park on 56th.

When Jay got there, he slid down the hole he dug to the miniature abyss in the ground.

"Creepy as ever." He greeted the hole. The shovel was still embedded in the earth forcing it apart, but the handle and the shovel head were both now completely swallowed by dirt on either side. The hole was considerably smaller now.

Jay began setting up the pulley system. He had one thousand meters of rope, a harness, and four individual climbers that were designed to attach to your hands and feet. Once the harness was set up, Jay walked over to the edge of the abyss.

"Ok." He breathed slowly. He hadn't told his mother or father that he'd even left the house this morning.

"We're just gonna get Cole and come right back up." Jay promised himself. Jay walked closer to the edge.

"Dammit Jay if you don't jump now you're never going to!" Jay yelled, and with a small yelp he jumped into the hole. As he expected, the harness caught him only a foot down. Slowly, Jay began lowering himself into the black abyss.

He went lower.

And lower.

And lower.

Just as Jay thought the end must _surely_ be near, the rope harness ended. He'd reached one thousand meters.

The air was freezing. Jay looked down.

"It can't be much further than this." He admitted to himself. He reached into his belt and grabbed up his climbing tools. He latched on to one of the walls of the abyss with his climbers. Locking in his feet and hands, he unclipped his harness. The rope fell away from him, dangling into the nothingness. With a steadying breath, Jay began the even slower decent by hand.

"Not much further." He kept muttering to himself. He must have said that one thousand times, and every time it felt as if the bottom _was_ much further than he anticipated. He looked up at one point to realize he could no longer see the rope. The only thing he could see was a very tiny pinprick that was the top.

After what seemed like hours, and Jay's muscles were cold and clammy, and he half debated just jumping off and hoping for the best, his foot came down into water. Jay blinked and slowly put down his other foot. He looked down, shining his headlamp below him. There was an enormous cavern beneath, all of it filled to the top with black water. Luckily his headlamp was water-proof, so he gulped a breath of air and ducked into the water.

Jay forced himself to open his eyes as he tried to glace around the cave. There on the far side of the cavern was a tunnel, most likely the way out of this cave. Steeling his nerves, or possibly shutting down his brain completely, Jay dove into the frigid waters. As quickly as he could he swam towards the tunnel. He pushed himself through in and to the other side. Quickly running out of air, he swam to the surface to take a breath. When he broke the water however, he found that the top of the next cave was only inches above the surface of the water. Water splashed into his mouth as he gasped in the small air pocket above him.

Gasping another breath, Jay went back under the water to find there was a second tunnel. His eyes blurred and he grew more exhausted with each passing second in the freezing black water. He kicked towards the second tunnel as hard as possible.

He was almost through it too, when out of nowhere, sharp needles stabbed into his leg. Jay screamed in pain, accidentally releasing a ton of airs from his lungs. He looked back to see a human head biting into his leg. It took all his willpower not to scream again. The rest of the human, or creature appeared. The top half of it was human, like the head, other than the sharp teeth obviously, but the bottom half was a tail covered in shimmering silver scales like a fish.

_Oh my. _Jay thought, eyes widening in awe, despite the freezing water. A moment later Jay began to black out.

_It's a mermaid_. Was his last coherent thought, before the cold claimed him entirely.

**Mermaid's POV:**

_This is the second one this week_. I thought exasperated. Dumb humans, thinking they can breathe under water. I dragged the blue-eyed boy to the other end of the tunnel just as he was passing out. As quickly as I could I dragged him through the third and fourth tunnels as well. Luckily, we mermaids are very fast swimmers, so he was only drowning for _maybe_ five seconds, before I dragged him onto the first shore of the underworld. I beat his weak chest with my tail a few times until he agreed to cough up all that dumb water he swallowed.

It took him a second or two, but he came around. And when he did, his reaction was understandable.

He screamed and scooted away as fast as one can scoot.

"Oh good, you didn't die." I muttered. At least he didn't run away like the others. The black haired one from earlier ran into the tunnels and was most likely captured by the Underlords stupid followers. The blue-eyed one seemed too tired to run, so he just stared at me wide eyed and fearful.

"Hello." I snapped. He blinked at me.

"You can talk?" He whispered at last. I rolled my pupil-less green eyes with a long and exaggerated "uuuuuugggghhhhh.'

"Yes I can talk, keep up stupid." I growled, baring my teeth briefly. He flinched at that. _Good_.

"But you're a mermaid." He said. I looked to the side, trying to hide my shame. Mermaids, along with other creatures from the first age, had been banished alongside the Underlord. Humans _hated_ every last one of us. I supposed the initial reason made sense too, but it still didn't seem fair.

"What about it? Mermaids aren't all bad you know. Thought I would eat you? Is that it? Well were not all monsters" I retorted at him. He looked confused.

"I don't think you're a monster." He said slowly. I scoffed, but I was listening intently. "I just didn't know you even . . . existed." He finished. It was my turn to blink confusedly.

"What era are you from." I scorned, about to turn and splash back into the water.

"Wait!" He called. I stopped and turned around. This boy was confusing, and I had a bad gut feeling about him for some reason, like he was about to do something crazy.

"I'm Jay." He said, bending down and holding out a hand. I recoiled, my face turning bright red.

"What're are you doing you freak!" I growled, splashing backwards in a graceful flailing movement.

"What!" He yelped, withdrawing his hand and rubbing the back of his head nervously.

"You can't touch me stupid, jeez didn't your mother and father teach you anything." I hissed at him.

"They taught me how to be one hell of an inventor thank you very much." The blue-eyed boy retorted back to me.

"Why can't I touch you?" He asked. "It's just a handshake." He argued.

"Only my mate can touch me, otherwise you'll be bonded to me and we'll be able to hear each other's thoughts. Haven't you heard those stories where mermaids go crazy because so many people touched them." I explained quickly.

The blue-eyed boy clasped his hands behind his back.

"I'm sorry, I've never learned about that." He admitted. I made a face, why didn't this kid _know_ anything.

"I am Jay thought." He reintroduced himself. "What's your name?" He asked softly. Like a wild animal I slowly swam back towards the shore he was kneeling on.

"Ki'rra" I said sharply.

"Ki'rra, I was wondering if you'd be able to help me out a little bit." Jay asked.

I twitched nervously.

"What do you need?" I asked, intrigued by this strange child.

"I need to know everything you know about this place, because I need to rescue someone from here." Jay explained. I blinked.

"You poor naïve child." I told him. "No one ever escapes from here."

"What?" He whispered, scared. I smiled lightly.

"Jay, why do you think they sent Underlord here in the first place."

**OKKKAAY, so I know it was a long hiatus, but here's a long chapter to make up for it. I'll try to be posting at least once a week from now on. Review and remind me to post lmao, it does really help.**

**Keep Writing Keep Reading, Nova out ; )**


	9. The Festival

**Hello! So, a few things. Number one, a huge thanks to my reviews, they're literally the most helpful things in the world, even if it's just reminding me to post. Thanks especially to LunaPikazard12, you've been reviewing since the beginning and it always makes my day. Also, thanks to CreepInsane for reminding me to post, and thanks to Peanut2196, muchas gracias por tu palabras esta muy importante para mi. Hablo espanol un poco, lo siento si la gramatica es incorrecto. Also thanks to Guest for post reminders and Acecove for your review and follow. Makes me smile every time guys.**

**Also I forgot to title the last chapter, and I'll probably go back and change it but the title was meant to be 'Ki'rra and the Unicorn' Also I apologize for my utter lack of edited my work, I think there was a sentence in the last chapter that said "I'm Jay thought" It was supposed to say "I am Jay though." So, in case that confused anybody. I'll try to edit this one better; I usually just get to tired to edit. Oops.**

**Anyways, on with the story.**

**The Festival**

Cole flinched and closed his eyes and the two graceful warriors met. It took him a long moment to peel one eye barely open. He peeked as Nya skillfully dodged the Unicorns deadly flailing hooves. He closed his eyes again.

It was like he was playing peek-a-boo with the terrifying scene in front of him. In one moment, Nya thrust one end of her spear at the Unicorns neck, the next moment Cole had closed his eyes. When Cole opened his eyes for a second time, the Unicorn has caught Nya across the stomach with its horn and knocked her to the ground. Cole looked away. Open, the Unicorn has the spear in its mouth, closed. Open, Nya was on the Unicorns back, closed. Open and Nya held her spear point to the Unicorns neck. Cole didn't close his eyes this time. All movement down in the arena had stopped. The two were frozen, breathing heavily.

The Unicorn felt the cold steel of death teasing at its neck and it dared not to move. Nya put her knee into Unicorns back and the Unicorn knelt slowly. She looked up into the stands and for a minute Cole thought she was looking at him, but quickly realized she was waiting for the Overlords signal.

He looked up at well, the Overlord was watching the Unicorn closely, but to Cole's surprise he didn't give the girl a kill order, instead he spread his hands wide. Nya nodded respectfully and stepped away from the Unicorn, the Unicorn stood up and turned to face her, but it seemed to realize that the fighting was over.

Instead, interestingly enough the Unicorn lightly bowed its head towards Nya until its black horn touched the top of her head lightly. Though she was far away, Cole swore he saw her flinch.

A moment later, Un'dirians has come out of the three other archways with rope and nets and a cage. Cole frowed. _That's awful._ He thought bitterly, moving towards the edge of his seat for the first time.

The Unicorn apparently agreed with Cole, because the moment it saw the capture tools it began prancing uneasily and bucking at the Un'dirians who came too close. Nya reached out a hand and made a move towards the struggling beast, but another Un'dirian grabbed her arm and began leading her back to her own archway.

Cole swallowed the lump in his throat as they lashed the Unicorn's legs so tightly that they tripped it. It fell slowly, panting and whining. When it hit the ground, Cole almost thought he felt the great animal's thud as its face and chest hit the sands.

The Unicorns eyes were slits, whether in anger, pain or exhaustion, Cole couldn't tell. He was betting on all three. His heart panged painfully as the shoved the Unicorn in the cage, which was made from whitened bones. The Unicorn, though subdued now, had still managed to cause quite a bit of trouble before it was taken down, and several of the Un'dirians were walking away bleeding from their side or arms. One even has a gash running down the side of his face.

"What now?" Cole asked, turning to Zane, trying to look away from the sad sight in front of him. Zane turned to him smiling.

"Now I show you more about the Underworld, like you told me of the Surface." Zane replied smiling.

"We're going to prepare for the festivities." Kai muttered from his seat.

"Festivities?" Cole repeated. Kai sighed, so Lloyd answered.

"Only the best part of every week. Every time a _Camosos_ wins their fight, we hold a huge feast, and dancing in their honor. Plus, the decorations are amazing." Lloyd said, grinning brightly. Cole smiled. _So even Hell has time to party._ Cole thought, amusing himself.

"I can't wait to have a festival in my honor." Lloyd said, sighing reluctantly.

"You will." Kai piped up from next to him, and Lloyd grinned again.

The four of them waited until the majority of the crowd had finally dispersed before leaving their seats. Kai led the way, as he often did. They followed the red-dressed boy out of the stands and all the way down underneath them where they circled the arena until they arrived at another door. Kai opened it, revealing Nya siting against the wall. She stood and exited the tunnel that led into the arena.

"You fought well today." Kai said.

"I didn't like it." She answered quietly.

"What do you mean?" Kai asked, brow furrowing.

"Fighting that pretty creature felt like. I don't know, like I was committing some great evil." Nya said, putting a hand to her head.

"Focus on the festivities sis, at least you didn't have to kill this one." Kai said gently, putting an arm around his sister and leading her away from the arena. Strangely, the scene reminded Cole of his mother, when she had her arm around his shoulder.

He was nine years old and he'd punched a kid, right in the mouth, for calling Jay a name that Cole couldn't remember now. He had blood on his hands. He'd knocked the kids tooth clean out, and it had sprayed blood everywhere. It probably didn't even bleed that much, but to a nine-year-old, a dot of blood looks like a gallon.

His mother had come and pulled him away. She placed an arm on his shoulder, while Cole felt unbelievably guilty, and led him away from the bad thing he'd done. He imagined a younger Nya, being led away by Kai after the first time she had to kill something.

She had blood on her hands too, and Kai had to pull her away from what she'd done so she wouldn't drown in the plethora of guilt that came with it.

Cole watched the two of them walk away until Zane put a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you alright Cole?" He asked. Cole looked up. He still found that odd. He was generally taller than most kids his age. Zane was the first exception

"Yeah I was just, lost in thought." He summed up and shrugged. Zane nodded knowingly, and the two of them followed the other _Camosos_ back to the main Cavern, which Zane had called _Rescad_.

_Rescad_, as Cole had come to gather, was somewhat like the Capital of the Underworld. It's where the _Camosos_ lived, where the palace was, which Cole didn't even notice before. He did now, the massive six joint pillars, decorated far heavier than any other column in the cavern. It was also the closest Cavern to _Glatori Rigari_, essentially making _Rescad_ the capital.

Cole had yet to see the other Caverns, but Zane had promised to show him on one of their free days. Cole wondered if they looked different than _Rescad_, or if they were mostly the same. The only thing Zane told him so far was that each cavern had its own individual landmark and name, and that there were four caverns in total that were cities.

He also briefly mentioned a few smaller caverns but noted that they were barely settled and not worth much attention.

He mostly talked about the four cities. The first being _Rescad_, with _Glatori Rigari. _The second was _Fahre_, which according to Zane had an enormous waterfall system. The third was _Qisa_, the city with the massive crystal, and finally _Jygra_, the city with the Underworlds beaches. Cole briefly remembered waking up on an unknown beach when he first woke up here, but it was too much of a blur for him to recall correctly.

A loud fanfare brought Cole from the geography expedition in his head. His eyes snapped up and he realized he'd followed the others back towards the center of _Rescad_ where _Un'dirians _and more silk wearing citizens were gathering. Several of them had strange instruments, and there were sweet smells greeting Cole's nose. There was an abundance of crystal lights being strung up and lighthearted talk seemed to fill the air. It reminded Cole of a carnival, only everything looked foreign to him.

Cole felt a small hand grab his.

"I've got so many things I wanna show you!" Lloyd said, beginning to drag Cole through the city. Cole grinned being briefly reminded of Jay.

"This is _Suol_. Here try some." Lloyd said, grabbing a brightly colored treat off a nearby table. He stuffed it into Cole's hand and dragged him off towards something else.

Cole bit into the _Suol_ as he was dragged about. It had the same consistency of chocolate, but it tasted fruity.

Lloyd gave him an extremely thorough tour of everything. He explained what every instrument was, Cole tried every food item in the place, and Lloyd taught him several festival dances. For the first time in his life, Cole actually _enjoyed_ dancing, and Zane Kai and Nya were impressed with how fast he picked it up.

As the night, at least Cole assumed it was night, stretched on, Cole found his mind slowly becoming more at ease. Obviously falling into the Underworld was terrifying, but with the _Camosos_, and the festival, and the people here going about their lives, Cole found adjusting wasn't so hard. After all, time wasn't going to wait around for him.

He had already learned so much about the Underworld, and it definitely wasn't anything like Hell, or at least the way Hell had always been described. Cole found that it was more like another country than anything else. Different food, different language, different species. But still the same humans.

Cole was becoming so immersed in the cheerful atmosphere that he failed to notice that he had picked up several stalkers throughout the night. Three pairs of eyes watched him, catlike, from the surrounding darkness. They tracked his every movement, unblinking.

Cole simply went on with his night, enjoying his new company and almost forgetting of the things he left behind. Falling under the assumption that this was where he was staying.

Falling under the Underworlds spell.

**I know this is like late beyond late. I started writing the chapter, I stopped writing the chapter. School was a shitstorm. A lot of crazy things actually happened recently, but I'm not giving up on this story, I'm sticking with it. I know this post was crazy late and I guess all I can say is I'm really sorry about that and in the future the chapters will be out a lot faster. Thanks so much for all the support.**

**Keep Writing** **Keep Reading Nova out ; )**


	10. Promise

**So, I felt terrible about how slow these were coming out, so here are two in a row. **

** Promise**

Cole slept well that night. He was reminiscing. The good food and the entrancing colors of the festival still danced in his mind. He couldn't bring himself to think of escaping. Had he still been on edge as much as he was the first night, he might have noticed the three strange figures that had not left him since the festival.

The first figure remained at the base of the _Camosos _column. He sat in a silent vigil. He wore a cloak and hood of dark purple, embroidered in gold designs to look like poison dripping down the velvet folds. The colors of the Underlord. Though his hood came down nearly to his nose, his also wore a mask over his face. It was made of a white material with red markings around eye holes. In his hand he wielded a large staff, covered in jagged teeth from top to bottom except where he held it in the middle.

The second was in the column next to the _Camosos_ column and watched silently through a window. He wore the same attire except for the weapon. He held a sleek bow made from the black bones of the _Jai'corio_. It was nocked and aimed true at Cole's heart. The third and final figure was standing next to Cole's bunk.

He was silent enough not to wake any of the other _Camosos_. Unlike the others, he had only a knife strapped to his chest. Also, unlike the others he held a small piece of parchment paper in his hand. He placed his hands in front of him and began making strange symbols and motions with his hands. They glowed red for a brief moment, and then the light faded.

Silently the figure placed the parchment down in midair. It hung there as if it had been stuck to an invisible fridge. Satisfied that Cole would see it when he woke, the figure made another strange hand sign, and in a dim glow of red he vanished from the room.

Cole shifted in his sleep but didn't wake or stir in the slightest. Afterall, power comes from fear and people fear things they don't understand. The Underlord had been extremely thorough in making sure no one understood how any of his magic and power worked.

After all, fear was everything around here.

**Jay**

Ki'rra swam a little ahead of my walking pace. Mostly he would swim under the surface, but he popped up every now and again to make sure I was still following him. He had told me he was taking me to a city called _Jygra_, which apparently was the only city worth visiting according to him. He said the only place with people who might be able to help me would be here. I trusted him so far seeing as he saved my life.

The tunnel we were walking in was wide enough for both a strip of land and a river, so we had managed to stick together so far. Ki'rra had explained that because _Jygra_ was so close to the water, the rivers ran through it like streets.

"Like Venice?" I had asked, to which I received a confused look. After meeting Ki'rra, I realized that if this really was a whole civilization, I was going to be so out of place. I decided to fix the problem by asking my new friend every question under the sun. Ki'rra answered all my questions, but he began to grit his sharp teeth as we passed the 20 questions limit.

"Why don't you know _anything_." He blurted suddenly. It was something he'd asked before, but now he was serious and expecting an answer.

"Well I'm from up there." I explained, pointing straight up. Ki'rra stopped dead, other than his tail treading water.

"You're from the surface?" He asked in a hushed voice. I nodded slowly.

"Do they still hate us up there?" He asked quietly. I blinked a few times.

"I'm gonna go with no." I told him. "But why do you ask? I mean, what happened?" I asked, my curiosity not being to contain itself any longer.

"I can't believe you don't know. It must have been a _very_ long time." Ki'rra muttered. He sat silently for a second, looking within his thoughts. Finally, he looked back to me, those pure green eyes looking nothing by weary.

"If I tell you what happened, will you stop asking me questions?" He bargained. I grinned smartly and plopped onto the ground, crossing my legs in the process. I swore I saw him smile.

"A long time ago. Before the world had even revealed its depths to man and magic, and the caverns we walk through now were on no map. Not a soul knew of the Underworlds existence. On the surface, humans, _Un'dirians, _Mermaids, Unicorns, Dragons, and countless other species lived in one beautiful and grand ecosystem.

This was during the 500's I believe, so the time of knights, feudal lords. There was no emperor, the lands were constantly spilt up and fought for. Then, arising from almost no background, a man with a bold vision began to spread his word across the many lands and to the many lords. He was a gladiator from New Rome, more commonly known as the Byzantine Empire. He had an idea to unite the lands of Europe under one rule. His own.

Obviously, the idea was a brazen one. It caused a great deal of controversy between the lords. Some, who held less power, went along with it. Probably under the idea that they would benefit more from it. While others, with large lands and great power scorned his idea, not wanting to give up the power they currently held.

For a long time, it simply seemed as if his idea would be nothing more than idea. But he didn't stop trying to make it a reality. He struck a deal with the Fae. The Fae talked to the Sprites who talked to the Ghosts who talked to the Demons who were the only ones who could try and talk to the darkest spirits of them all. The Oni. Word got to them that a man wanted to make deal with them.

The Oni agreed to meet with him.

At the same time as all of this, an explorer named Celenius The Bold was traveling and mapping caves in Europe. By what must have been an accident, he found a cave that opened the Underworld. It's called the First Doorway. It's located in the city we call _Qisa_. Celenius didn't actually realize what he'd found, he simply thought it was a deeper cave system at first. But when he came back out of the caves, several years had passed on the surface. He traveled around looking for more caves like it afterwards.

Now, the Oni and the man had met up and struck a deal. The Oni granted the man control over all magical creatures for a single day and night and in exchange, the man would afterwards allow his body to be a vessel for these demonic spirits, allowing them to escape the spirit world.

The man had agreed and planned for months, trying to find out how to take over all of Europe in one night with magical creatures at his disposal. When the day came, it was just a massacre. All magical creatures became mindless monsters in an instant.

Dragons burned down cities, unicorns killed knights and impaled many people. Mermaids caught and drowned or ate children. Fae made Lords puppets on their thrones. Ghosts dismembered townspeople. Sprites released The Plague. In just under twenty-four hours, Europe had been slain by magic.

However, the man did not succeed. One lord managed to escape his castle and run away into the night. He wasn't deserting Europe though. This man had traveled to many places all over the world. He used an old African chant to repel magic, and a magic carpet from the palace of India to fly far away. He flew to Japan to see his brother.

The Lords name was Garmadon, and his brother's name was Wu. They had parted ways long ago, Garmadon to find land to rule as his own and Wu a monastery to teach. Garmadon now sought his brother's help.

Wu agreed to his brother's request and used a special tea to send legions of Samurai, along with some of Japan's own magical creatures such as Serpentine, to help Garmadon fight the magical creatures of Europe. Once reinforced, Garmadon went straight back to Europe.

He thought it was going to take him many years to defeat the man and his creatures, but he only needed to last the remaining few hours of the man's time limit. Once the Oni spell wore off, the fighting ceased, and the magical creatures returned home.

However, it was partially too late. It was the beginning of the end for us. The Oni followed through on their deal and took over the man's body. Luckily, Garmadon was holding the man in his dungeon which was designed to hold magical things as well.

Garamdon called together all the Lords of Europe to talk about what they were going to do about the man and his creatures. This was where Celenius came back into the picture. He explained the caves he had found, and proposed they exile the man and all magical creatures and any lords and people that had sided with the man in the caves. The other lords agreed. Garmadon tried to explain that magical creatures weren't at fault, but the atrocities the man made us do was too much for humans.

They hated us, regardless of our free will. They had already seen _our_ faces killing _their_ children and wives and burning _their_ cities. It was too late for us. Over the next several years, a genocide known as The Hunt began. Knights and Lord hunted down every single magical creature that was left, and either killed them or rounded them up in dungeons.

It was horrible. I remember every second of it. Living in constant fear. I remember how afraid I was when I was caught. How trapped I felt after they stuck me in the underground part their filthy moat. How alone I was.

When the dungeons got full, the built these massive cages and simply began throwing us into them like a pack of wild dogs. When they couldn't find any more of us, the brought every one of us to a cave and marched us through. I don't know if they caught every one of us, seeing as there's really no way to tell. But it didn't matter, the vast majority of us were caught.

The first few years in the Underworld were rough. Food was practically nonexistence and many of us reverted to animalistic instincts and qualities. The man, now possessed by the Oni, was down here with us but they had put a sleeping spell on him, and we all avoided him for a long time.

The dragons did their part to create us a water source, cities, tunnels. Everything we needed. Their creation power brought us together after a first rough year. However, the dragons slowly began to die. Their power was fading and many of them died. Eventually we realized that without the Oni to balance out the dragon's power, the dragons couldn't survive. We were forced to wake the man that had doomed us.

When the Oni-man awakened, he did exactly what we expected him to. He claimed the biggest city, gathered the humans that had followed him and began his twisted kingdom. The Oni remained present in his mind, fueling his thoughts and powers. They were furious about the fact that upon escaping they had been exiled. They burn to get back and take over the surface one day.

We managed to save the last six dragons, and the civilization of the Underworld began. I don't know how many years have passed since we our exile and honestly, I don't think I want to know. Many magic creatures stay away from _Rescad_, because we want nothing to do with the Underlord. Besides, get to close to that freaks city and he'll shove you straight in a gladiator ring. Nothing satisfies his love for death. I don't think anything ever will, with a whole species of Oni trapped inside you, who knows how messed up he is." Ki'rra finished his story. For a long moment I said nothing. I wiped a fear tear stains from my face.

"Your history is so beautiful, and sad." I said at last. Ki'rra ducked his head. "Just so you know, nowadays in the surface people don't hate magical creatures. In fact, we think they're really cool." I explained softly. Ki'rra looked up.

"What?" He asked skeptically.

"Honest. But we also don't think that anyone of you . . . exists." I explained finally. Ki'rra blinked.

"How long has it been?" He whispered, but it was just to himself.

"Ki'rra." I said, getting his attention. He gazed at me sadly with those green eyes. I don't know how it was possible that I could tell his emotions, but I felt it in my gut.

"I'm gonna get you of here." I promised him. In that moment he looked so hopeful, and extremely desperate. Like he wanted to believe me more than anything.

"Don't make promises you can't keep Jay." He said. Then he turned and kept swimming.

_I never do_. I thought looking after him.

_I promise to get you and Cole out of here. I promise I will defeat this Overlord that's hurt you so much. I promise._

_On my life._

**More is on the way! Let me know if any of you have any questions about the backstory. Again, I didn't edit a word of this because I'm just tryna get the story on it's feet again. I know there wasn't much Ninjago this chapter and it was a lot of OCness, but I promise next chapter will be good. After all, Cole is visiting the Underlord and Nya learns things from the Unicorn and much more!**

**Keep Writing Keep Reading Nova Out ; )**


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